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DEATH  VALLEY 

IN  '49. 


IMPORTANT   CHAPTER    OF 


California   Pioneer   History. 


—THE — 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  A  PIONEER,  DETAILING  HIS  LIFE  FROM  A 

HUMBLE    HOME    IN    THE    GREEN    MOUNTAINS    TO    THE 

GOLD  MINES  OF  CALIFORNIA  ;  AND  PARTICULARLY 

RECITING   THE  SUFFERINGS  OF  THE    BAND 

OF  MEN,    WOMEN   AND  CHILDREN  WHO 

GAVE  "DEATH  valley"  ITS  NAME. 


By  WILLIAM  LEWIS  MANLY 


SAN  J08E.  CAL.  : 
THE  PACIFIC  TREE  AND  VINE  CO. 

1894. 


Kntered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1894,  by 

wm.  l.  man  ley, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


TO 

THE  PIONEERS  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

THEIR  CHILDREN  AND  GRANDCHILDREN, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED, 

WITH  THAT  HIGH  RESPECT  AND  REGARD 

SO  OFTEN  EXPRESSED  IN  ITS  PAGES, 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


2607SI 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Birth,  Parentage. — Early  Life  in  Vermont. — Suck- 
ing Cider  through  a  Straw.  10-16. 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Western  Fever.— On  the  Road  to  Ohio.— The 
Outfit. — The  Erie  Canai. — In  the  Maumee  Swamp. 

16-21 

CHAPTER  III. 
At  Detroit  and  Westward. — Government  Land. — 
Killing  Deer. — "Fever  'N  Agur.  "  21-26. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Lost  Filley  Boy. — Never  Was  Found.       26  29. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Sickness. — Rather  Catch  Chipmonks  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  than  Live  in  Michigan. — Building  the 
Michigan  Central  R.  R. — Building  a  Boat. — Floating 
down  Grand  River. — Black  Bear. — Indians  Catching 
Mullet. — Across  the  Lake  to  Southport. — Lead  Min- 
ing at  Mineral  Point.  —Decides  to  go  Farther  West. — 
Return  to  Michigan.  30-46. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Wisconsin. — Indian  Physic. — Dressed  for  a  Winter 
Hunting  Campaign. — Hunting  and  Trapping   in    the 
Woods. — Catching  Otter  and  Marten.  47-57- 

^CHAPTER  VII. 
,  Lead  Mining. — Hears  about  Gold  in  California. — 
Gets  the  Gold  Fever. — Nothing  will  cure  it  but  Cal 
ifornia. — Mr.  Bennett  and  the  Author  Prepare  to 
Start. — The  Winnebago  Pony. — Agrees  to  Meet  Ben- 
nett at  Missouri  River. — Delayed  and  Fails  to  Find 
Him. — Left  with  only  a  Gun  and  Pony. — Goes   as   a 


CONTENTS. 

Driver  for  Charles  Dallas.— Stopped  by  a  Herd  of 
Buffaloes.— Buffalo  Meat— Indians.— U.  S.  Troops.— 
The  Captain  and  the  Lieutenant. — Arrive  at  South 
Pass. — The  Waters  Run  toward  the  Pacific. — They 
Find  a  Boat  and  Seven  of  them  Decide  to  Float  down 
the  Green  River.  58'75- 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Floating  down  the  River. — It  begins  to  roar. — 
Thirty  Miles  a  Day.— Brown's  Hole.— Lose  the  Boat 
and  make  two  Canoes.  —  Elk.  —  The  Canons  get 
Deeper.  —  Floundering  in  the  Water.  — The  Indian 
•Camp. — Chief  Walker  proves  a  Friend. — Describes  the 
Terrible  Canon  below  Them.— Advises  Them  to  go  no 
farther  down. — Decide  to  go  Overland. — Dangerous 
Route  to  Salt  Lake. — Meets  Bennett  near  there. — Or- 
ganize the  Sand  Walking  Company.  76-108. 
i^  CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Southern  Route.— Off  in  Fine  Style.— A  Cut-off 
Proposed.— Most  of  Them  Try  it  and  Fail— The  Jay- 
hawkers. — A  New  Organization. — Men  with  Families 
not  Admitted. — Capture  an  Indian  Who  Gives  Them 
the  Slip. — An  Indian  Woman  and  Her  Children, — 
Grass  Begins  to  Fail. — A  High  Peak  to  the  West. — 
No  Water. — An  Indian  Hut. — Reach  the  Warm 
Spring. — Desert  Everywhere. — Some  One  Steals  Food. 
— The  Water  Acts  Like  a  Dose  of  Salts. — Christmas 
Day. — Rev.  J.  W.  Brier  Delivers  a  Lecture  to  His 
Sons. — Nearly  Starving  and  Choking. — An  Indian  in 
a  Mound. — Indians  Shoot  the  Oxen. — Camp  at  Fur- 
nace Creek.  108-143. 
i/CHAPTER  X. 

A  Long,  Narrow  Valley. — Beds  and  Blocks  of  Salt. 
— An  Ox  Killed. — Blood,  Hide  and  Intestines  Eaten. 
— Crossing  Death  Valley. — The  Wagons  can  go  no 
farther. — Manley  and  Rogers  \^olunteer  to  go  for 
Assistance. — They  Set  out  on  Foot. — Find   the  Dead 


CONTENTS. 

Body  of  Mr.  Fish. — Mr.  Isham  Dies. — Bones  along 
the  Road. — Cabbage  Trees. — Eating  Crow  and  Hawk. 
— After  Sore  Trials  They  Reach  a  Fertile  Laud. — 
Kindly  Treated. — Returning  with  Food  and  Animals. 
— The  Little  Mule  Climbs  a  Precipice,  the  Horses  are 
Left  Behind. — Finding  the  Body  of  Captain  Culver- 
well. — The}^  Reach  Their  Friends  just  as  all  Hope 
has  Left  Them. — Leaving  the  Wagons. — Packs  on  the 
Oxen. — Sacks  for  the  Children. — Old  Crump. — Old 
Brigham  and  Mrs.  Arcane. — A  Stampede  [Illustrated.] 
— Once  more  Moving  Westward. — "Good-bye,  Death 
Valley."  143-217. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Struggling  Along. — Pulling  the  Oxen  Down  the 
Precipice[Illustrated.] — Making  Raw-hide  Moccasins. 
—  Old  Brigham  Lost  and  Found. — Dry  Camps. — 
Nearly  Starving. — Melancholy  and  Blue. — The  Feet 
of  the  Women  Bare  and  Blistered. — "One  Cannot 
form  an  Idea  How  Poor  an  Ox  Will  Get. ' ' — Young 
Charlie  Arcane  very  Sick. — Skulls  of  Cattle. — Cross- 
ing the  Snow  Belt. — Old  Dog  Cuff. — Water  Dancing 
over  the  Rocks. — Drink,  Ye  Thirsty  Ones. — Killing 
a  Yearling. — See  the  Fat. — Eating  Makes  Them  Sick. 
— Going  down  Soledad  Cailon. — A  Beautiful  Meadow. 
— Hospitable  Spanish  People. — They  Furnish  Shelter 
and  Food. — The  San  Fernando  Mission. — Reaching 
Los  Angeles. — They  Meet  Moody  and  Skinner. — Soap 
and  Water  for  the  First  Time  in  Months. — Clean 
Dresses  for  the  Women. — Real  Bread  to  Eat, — A  Pic- 
ture of  Los  Angeles. — Black-eyed  Women. — The 
Author  Work.s"  in  a  Boarding-house. — Bennett  and 
Others  go  up  the  Coast. — Life  in  Los  Angeles. — The 
Author  Prepares  to  go  North.  217-278. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Dr.  McMahon's  Story. — McMahon  and    Field,  Left 
behind  with  Chief  Walker,  Determine  to  go  down  the 


CONTENTS. 

River. — Change  Their  Minds  and  go  with  the  Indians. 
— Change  again  and  go  by  themselves. — Eating  Wolf 
Meat. — After  much  Suffering  they  reach  Salt  Eake. — 
John  Taylor's  Pretty  Wife. — Field  falls  in  Love  with 
her. — They  Separate. — Incidents  of  Wonderful  Es- 
capes from  Deaih.  278-319. 
•CHAPTER  XIII. 

Story  of  the  Jay  hawkers. — Ceremonies  of  Initiation 
— Rev.  J.  W.  Brier. — His  Wife  the  best  Man  of  the 
Two. — Story  of  the  Road  across  Death  Valley. — Burn- 
ing the  Wagons — Narrow  Escape  of  Tom  Shannon — 
Capt.  Ed  Doty  was  Brave  and  True— They  reach  the 
Sea  by  way  of  Santa  Clara  River — Capt,  Haynes 
before  the  Alcalde — Eist  of  Jayhawkers  319-366 

CHAPTER  XIV 

Alexander  Erkson's  Statement — Works  for  Brig- 
ham  Young  at  Salt  Lake — Mormon  Gold  Coin — Mt. 
Misery—  The  Virgin  River  and  Yucca  Trees — A  Child 
Born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rynierson — Arrive  at  Cucam- 
onga  —  Find  some  good  Wine  which  is  good  for 
Scurvy — San  F'rancisco  and  the  Mines — Settles  in 
San  Jose— Experience  of  Edward  Coker — Death  of 
Culverwell,  Fish  and  Isham— Goes  through  Walker's 
Pass  and  down  Kern  River— Living  in  Fresno  in 
1892  366-576 

J^HAPTER  X\' 

The  Author  again  takes  up  the  History — Working 
in  a  Boarding  House,  but  makes  Arrangements  to  go 
North — Mission  San  Bueno  Ventura — First  Sight  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean— Santa  Barbara  in  1850 — Paradise 
and  Desolation— San  Miguel,  Santa  Ynez  and  San 
Luis  Obispo— California  Carriages  and  how  they  were 
used — Arrives  in  San  Jose  and  Camps  in  the  edge  of 
Town— Description  of  the  place— Meets  John  Rogers, 
Bennett,  Moody  and  Skinner — On  the  road  to  the 
Mines — They  find  some  of  the  Yellow    StufiF  and  go 


CONTENTS. 

Prospecting  for  more — Experience  vvitti  Piojos — Life 
and  Times  in  the  Mines — Sights  and  Scenes  along  the 
Road,  at  Sea,  on  the  Isthmus,  Cuba,  New  Orleans, 
and  up  the  Mississippi — A  few  Months  Amid  Old 
Scenes,  then  away  to  the  Golden  State  again,  376-440. 

•^CHAPTER  XVI 
St.   Eouis  to   New    Orleans,  New    Orleans   to   San 
Francisco— Off  to  the  Mines  Again — Life  in  the  Mines 
and  Incidents  of  Mining  Times  and    Men — Vigilance 
Committee — Death  of  Mrs.  Bennett  440-478 

CHAPTER  XVII 
Mines  and  Mining — Adventures  and  Incidents  of  the 
Early  Days— -The  Pioneers,  their  Character  and  Influ- 
ence—Conclusion 


DEATH   \^ ALLEY  TN  '49. 

THE 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF   A 


CHAPTER     I. 

St-  Albans,  \"ermont  is  near  the  eastern  shore  of 
T.ake  Champlain,  and  only  a  short  distance  south  of 
"Five-and-forty  north  degrees"  which  separates  the 
United  States  from  Canada,  and  some  sixty  or  seventy 
miles  from  the  great  St.  Lawrence  River  and  the  city 
of  Montreal,  Near  here  it  was,  on  April  6th,  1820,  I 
was  born,  so  the  record  says,  and  from  this  point  with 
wondering  e3'es  of  childhood  I  looked  across  the  waters 
of  the  narrow  lake  to  the  slopes  of  the  Adirondack 
mountains  in  New  York,  green  as  the  hills  of  my  own 
Green  Mountain    State. 

The  parents  of  my  father  were  English  people  and 
lived  near  Hartford.  Connecticut,  where  he  was  born. 
While  still  a  little  boy  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Vermont.  My  mother's  maiden  name  was  Phoebe 
Calkins,  born  near  St.  Albans  of  Welch  parents,  and, 
being  left  an  orphan  while  yet  in  very  tender  years,  she 
was  given  away  to  be  reared  b}-  people  who  provided 
food  and  clothes,  but  permitted  her  to  grow  up  to  wo- 
manhood without  knowing  how  to  read  or  write. 
After  her  marriage  she  learned  to  do  both,  and  acquired 
the  rudiments  of  an  education. 

Grandfather  and  his  boys,  four  in  all,  fairly  carved  a 
farm  out  of  the  big  forest  that  covered  the  cold  rocky 
hills.     Giant  work  it  was  for  them  in  such  heavy  tim- 


12  DEATH  VALLEY. 

ber — pine,  hemlock,  maple,  beech  and  birch — the  clear- 
ing of  a  single  acre  being  a  man's  work  fcr  a  year. 
The  place  where  the  maples  were  thickest  was  reserved 
for  a  sugar  grove,  and  from  it  was  made  all  of  the 
sweet  material  they  needed,  and  some  besides.  Econ- 
omy of  the  very  strictest  kind  had  to  be  used  in  ever}- 
direction.  Main  strength  and  muscle  were  the  only 
things  dispensed  in  plenty.  The  crops  raised  consisted 
of  a  small  flint  corn,  rye  oats,  potatoes  and  turnips. 
Three  cows,  ten  or  twelve  sheep,  a  few  pigs  and  a  yoke 
of  strong  oxen  comprised  the  live  stock — horses,  they 
had  none  for  many  3-ears.  A  great  ox-cart  was  the 
only  wheeled  vehicle  on  the  place,  and  this,  in  winter, 
gave  place  to  a  heavy  sled,  the  runners  cut  from  a  tree 
having  a  natural  crook,  and  roughly,  but  strongly, 
made. 

In  summer  there  were  plent)-  of  strawberries,  rasp- 
berries, whortleberries  and  blackberries  growing  wild, 
but  all  the  cultivated  fruit  was  apples.  As  these 
ripened  many  were  peeled  bj'  hand,  cut  in  quarters, 
strung  on  long  strings  of  twine  and  dried  before  the 
kitchen  fire  for  winter  use.  Thej'  had  a  way  of  bury- 
ing up  some  of  the  best  keepers  in  the  ground,  and 
opening  the  apple  hole  was  quite  an  event  of  early 
spring. 

The  children  were  taught  to  work  as  soon  as  large 
enough.  I  remember  they  furnished  me  with  a  little 
wooden  fork  to  spread  the  heav}'  swath  of  grass  my 
father  cut  with  easj"  swrings  of  the  scythe,  and  when 
it  was  dry  and  being  loaded  on  the  great  ox-cart  I  fol- 
lowed closel}'  with  a  rake  gathering  every  scattering 
spear.  The  barn  was  built  so  that  every  animal  was 
housed  comfortably  in  winter,  and  the  house  was  such 
as  all  settlers  built,  not  considered  handsome,  but  capa- 
ble of  being  made  very  warm  in  winter  and  the  great 
piles     of     hard     wood      in     the     yard     enough     to 


DEATH     VALLEY.  13 

last  as  fuel  for  a  year,  not  only  helped  toclear  the  land, 
but  kept  us  comfortable.  Mother  and  the  girls  washed, 
carded,  spun,  and  wove  the  wool  from  our  own  sheep 
into  good  strong  cloth.  Flax  was  also  raised,  and  I 
remember  how  they  pulled  it,  rotted  it  by  spreading 
on  the  green  meadow,  then  broke  and  dressed  it,  and 
then  the  women  made  linen  cloth  of  various  degrees 
of  fineness,  quality,  and  beauty.  Thus,  by  the  labor 
of  both  men  and  women,  we  were  clothed.  If  an  extra 
fine  Sunday  dress  was  desired,  part  of  the  yarn  was 
colored  and  from  this  they  managed  to  get  up  a  very 
nice  plaid  goods  for  the  purpose. 

In  clearing  the  land  the  hemlock  bark  was  peeled 
and  traded  off  at  the  tannery  for  leather,  or  used  to  pa}- 
for  tanning  and  dressing  the  hide  of  an  ox  or  cow  which 
they  managed  to  fat  and  kill  about  every  year.  Stores 
for  the  famih'  were  either  made  by  a  neighboring  .shoe- 
maker, or  by  a  traveling  one  who  went  from  house  to 
house,  making  up  a  supply  for  the  family — whipping 
the  cat,  they  called  it  then.  They  ])aid  him  in  some- 
thing or  other  produced  upon  the  farm,  and  no  money 
was  asked  or  expected. 

Wood  was  one  thing  plenty,  and  the  fireplace  was 
made  large  enough  to  take  in  sticks  four  feet  long  or 
more,  for  the  more  they  could  burn  the  better,  to  get 
it  out  of  the  way.  In  an  outhouse,  also  provided  with 
a  fireplace  and  chimney,  they  made  shingles  during 
the  long  winter  evenings,  the  shavings  making  plenty 
of  fire  and  light  by  which  to  work.  The  shingles  sold 
for  about  a  dollar  a  thousand.  Just  beside  the  fireplace 
in  the  house  was  a  large  brick  oven  where  mother  baked 
great  loaves  of  bread,  big  pots  of  pork  and  beans,  mince 
pies  and  loaf  cake,  a  big  turkey  or  a  young  pig  on 
grand  occasions.  Many  of  the  dishes  used  were  of 
tin  or  pewter;  the  milk  pans  were  of  earthenware,  but 
most  things  about  the  house  in  the  line  of  furniture 


14  DEATH  VALLEY. 

were  of  domestic  manufacture. 

The  store  bills  were  ver\-  light.  A  little  tea  for 
father  and  mother,  a  few  spices  and  odd  luxuries  were 
about  all,  and  they  were  paid  for  with  surplus  eggs. 
My  father  and  my  uncle  had  a  sawmill,  and  in  wintei 
they  hauled  logs  to  it,  and  could  sell  timber  for  -tS  per 
thousand  feet. 

The  school  was  taught  in  winter  b}'  a  man  named 
Bo  wen,  who  managed  forty  scholars  and  considered 
sixteen  dollars  a  month,  boarding  himself,  was  pretty 
fair  pay.  In  summer  some  smart  girl  would  teach  the 
small  scholars  and  board  round  among  the  families. 

When  the  proper  time  came  the  property  holder 
would  send  off  to  the  collector  an  itemized  list  of  all 
his  property,  and  at  another  the  taxes  fell  due.  A 
farmer  who  would  value  his  property  at  two  thousand 
or  three  thousand  dollars  would  find  he  had  to  pay 
about  six  or  seven  dollars.  All  the  money  in  use  then 
seemed  to  be  silver,  and  not  very  much  of  that.  The 
whole  plan  seemed  to  to  be  to  have  every  family  and 
farm  self-supporting  as  far  as  possible.  I  have  heard 
of  a  note  being  given  payable  in  a  good  cow  to  be 
delivered  at  a  certain  time,  say  October  i,  and  on  that 
day  it  would  pass  from  house  to  house  in  payment  of 
a  debt,  and  at  night  only  the  last  man  in  the  list  would 
have  a  cow  more  than  his  neighbor.  Yet  those  were 
the  days  of  real  independence,  after  all.  Ever}'  man 
worked  hard  from  early  youth  to  a  good  old  age.  There 
were  no  millionaires,  no  tramps,  and  the  poorhouse 
had  only  a  few  inmates. 

I  have  very  pleasant  recollections  of  the  neighbor- 
hood cider  mill.  There  were  two  rollers  formed  of 
logs  carefully  rounded  and  four  or  five  feet  long,  set 
closely  together  in  an  upright  position  in  a  rough  frame, 
a  long  crooked  sweep  coming  from  one  of  them  to 
which  a  horse  was  hitched    aud   pulled    it   round  and 


DEATH  VALLEY.  15 

round,  One  roller  had  mortices  in  it,  and  projecting 
wooden  teeth  on  the  other  fitted  into  these,  so  that,  as 
they  both  slowly  turned  together,  the  apples  were 
crushed,  A  huge  box  of  coarse  slats,  notched  and 
locked  together  at  the  corners,  held  a  vast  pile  of  the 
crushed  apples  while  clean  rye  straw  was  added  to 
strain  the  flowing  juice  and  keep  the  cheese  from 
spreading  too  much;  then  the  ponderous  screw  and 
streams  of  delicious  cider.  Sucking  cider  through  a 
long  rye  straw  inserted  in  the  bung-hole  of  a  barrel  was 
just  the  best  of  fun,  and  cider  taken  that  way  "awful" 
good  while  it  was  new  and  sweet. 

The  winter  ashes,  made  from  burning  so  much  fuel 
and  gathered  from  the  brush-heaps  and  log-heaps,  were 
carefully  saved  and  traded  with  the  potash  men  for  pot- 
ash or  sold  for  a  small  price.  Nearly  every  one  went 
barefoot  in  summer,  and  in  winter  wore  hea\'y  leather 
mocassins  made  by  the  Canadian  French  who  lived 
near  bv. 


1 6  DEATH  VALLEY. 


CHAPTER  II. 

About  1828  people  began  to  talk  about  the  far  West. 
Ohio  was  the  place  we  heard  most  about,  and  the  most 
we  knew  was,  that  it  was  a  long  wslx  off  and  no  way 
to  get  there  except  over  a  long  and  tedious  road,  with 
oxen  or  horses  and  a  cart  or  wagon.  More  than  one 
got  the  Western  fever,  as  they  called  it,  my  uncle  James 
Webster  and  my  father  among  the  rest,  when  they 
heard  some  traveler  tell  about  the  fine  country  he  had 
seen;  .so  thej'  sold  their  farms  and  decided  to  go  to 
Ohio,  Uncle  James  was  to  go  ahead,  in  the  fall  of  1829 
and  get  a  farm  to  rent,  if  he  could,  and  father  and  his 
family  were  to  come  on  the  next  spring. 

Uncle  fitted  out  with  two  good  horses  and  a  wagon ; 
goods  were  packed  in  a  large  box  made  to  fit,  and  un- 
der the  wagon  seat  was  the  commissary  chest  for  food 
and  bedding  for  daily  use,  all  snugly  arranged.  Fath- 
er had,  shortly  before,  bought  a  fine  Morgan  mare  and 
a  light  wagon  which  served  as  a  family  carriage,  hav- 
ing wooden  axles  and  a  seat  arranged  on  wooden 
springs,  and  they  finally  decided  they  would  let  me 
take  the  horse  and  wagon  and  go  on  with  uncle,  and 
father  and  mother  would  come  by  water,  either  by  way 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  river  and  the  lakes  or  by  way  of 
the  new  canal  recently  built,  which  would  take  them 
as  far  as  Buffalo. 

So  they  loaded  up  the  little  wagon  with  some  of  the 
mentioned  things  and  articles  in  the  house,  among 
which  I  remember  a  fine  brass  kettle,  considered  al- 
most indispensable  in  housekeeping.  There  was  a 
good  lot  of  bedding  and  blankets,  and  a  q^ilt  nicely 
folded  was  placed  on  the  spring  seat  as  a  cushion. 

As  may  be  imagined  I  was  the  object  of  a  great  deal 
of  attention  about  this  time,  for  a  bov  not  vet  ten  vear.s- 


DEATH  VAI.LEY.  17 

old  just  setting  out  into  a  region  almost  unknown  was 
a  little  unusual.  When  I  was  ready  they  all  gathered 
round  to  say  good  b3'e  and  nij'  good  mother  seemed 
most  concerned.  She  said — "Now  you  must  be  a  good 
boy  till  we  come  in  the  spring.  Mind  uncle  and  aunt 
and  take  good  care  of  the  horse,  and  remember  us. 
May  God  protect  3'ou. ' '  She  embraced  me  and  kissed 
me  and  held  me  till  she  was  exhausted.  Then  they 
lifted  me  up  into  the  spring  seat,  put  the  lines  in  my 
hand  and  handed  me  my  little  whip  wdth  a  leather  strip 
for  a  lash.  Just  at  the  last  moment  father  handed  me 
a  purse  containing  about  a  dollar,  all  in  copper  cents — 
pennies  we  called  them  then.  Uncle  had  started  on 
they  had  kept  me  so  long,  but  I  started  up  and  they 
all  followed  me  along  the  road  for  a  mile  or  so  before 
we  finally  separated  and  they  turned  back.  They 
waved  hats  and  handkerchiefs  till  out  of  sight  as  they 
returned,  and  I  wondered  if  we  should  ever  meet 
again. 

I  was  up  with  uncle  very  soon  and  we  rolled  down 
through  St.  Albans  and  took  our  road  southerly  along 
in  sight  of  Lake  Champlain.  Uncle  and  aunt  often 
looked  back  to  talk  to  me,  "See  what  a  nice  cornfield!" 
or,  "What  nice  apples  on  those  trees,"  seeming  to 
think  they  must  do  all  they  could  to  cheer  me  up,  that 
I  might  not  think  too  much  of  the  playmates  and  home 
I  was  leaving  behind. 

I  had  never  driven  very  far  before,  but  I  found  the 
horse  knew  more  than  I  did  how  to  get  around  the  big 
stones  and  stumps  that  w^ere  found  in  the  road,  so  that 
as  long  as  I  held  the  lines  and  the  whi])  in  hand  I  was 
an  excellent  driver. 

We  had  made  plans  and  preparations  to  board  our- 
selves on  the  journey.  We  always  .stopped  at  the  farm 
hou.ses  over  night,  and  they  were  so  hospitable  that 
they  gave    us  all  we  wanted  free.      ()ur  supper    was 


i8  DEATH  VALLEY. 

generally  of  bread  and  milk,  the  latter  always  fur- 
nished gratuitoush',  and  I  do  not  recollect  that  we  were 
ever  turned  away  from  any  house  where  we  asked 
shelter.  There  were  no  hotels,  or  taverns  as  they 
called  them,  outside  of  the  towns. 

In  due  time  we  reached  Whitehall,  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Champlain,  and  the  big  box  in  Uncle's  wagon 
proved  so  heavy  over  the  muddy  roads  that  he  put  it 
in  a  canal  boat  to  be  sent  on  to  Cleveland,  and  we 
found  it  much  easier  after  this  for  there  were  too  many 
mud-holes,  stumps  and  stones  and  log  bridges  for  so 
lieavy  a  load  as  he  had.  Our  road  many  times  after 
this  led  along  near  the  canal,  the  Champlain  or  the 
Erie,  and  I  had  a  chance  to  see  something  of  the  canal 
boys'  life.  The  boy  who  drove  the  horses  that  drew 
the  packet  boat  was  a  well  dressed  fellow  and  always 
rode  at  a  full  trot  or  a  gallop,  but  the  freight  driver 
was  generally  ragged  and  barefoot,  and  walked  when 
it  was  too  cold  to  ride,  threw  stones  or  clubs  at  his 
team,  and  cursed  and  abused  the  packet-boy  who 
passed  as  long  as  he  was  in  hearing.  Reared  as  1  had 
been  I  thought  it  was  a  pretty  wicked  part  of  the 
world  we   we  were  coming  to. 

We  passed  one  village  of  low  cheap  houses  near  the 
canal.  The  men  about  were  very  vulgar  and  talked 
rough  and  loud,  nearly  every  one  with  a  pipe,  and 
poorly  dressed,  loafing  around  the  saloon,  apparently 
the  worse  for  whisky.  The  children  were  barefoot, 
bare  headed  and  scanth'  dressed,  and  it  seemed  awfulh' 
dirty  about  the  doors  of  the  shanties.  Pigs,  ducks  and 
geese  were  at  the  very  door,  and  the  women  I  saw 
wore  dresses  that  did  not  come  down  very  near  the 
mud  and  big  brogan  shoes,  and  their  talk  was  saucy 
and  different  from  what  I  had  ever  heard  women  use 
before.  They  told  me  they  were  Irish  people — the 
first  I  had  ever  seen. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  19 

It  was  along  here  somewhere  that  I  lost  my  little 
whip  and  to  get  another  one  made  sad  inroads  into  the 
little  purse  of  pennies  ni}-  father  gave  me.  We  trav- 
eled slowly  on  day  after  day.  There  was  no  use  to 
hurry  for  we  could  not  do  it.  The  roads  were  muddy, 
the  log  ways  very  rough  and  the  only  way  was  to  take 
a  moderate  gait  and  keep  it.  We  never  traveled  on 
Sunday.  One  Saturday  evening  my  uncle  secured  the 
privilege  of  staying  at  a  well-to  do  farmer's  house  un- 
til Monday.  We  had  our  own  food  and  bedding,  but 
were  glad  to  get  some  privileges  in  the  kitchen,  and 
som2  fresh  milk  or  vegetables.  After  all  had  taken 
supper  that  night  they  all  they  all  sat  down  and  made 
themselves  quiet  with  their  books,  and  the  children 
were  as  still  as  mice  till  an  early  bed  time  when  all  re- 
tired. When  Sunday  evening  came  the  women  got 
out  their  work — their  sewing  and  their  knitting,  and 
the  children  romped  and  played  and  made  as  much 
noise  as  they  could,  seeming  as  anxious  to  break  the 
Sabbath  as  they  had  been  to  have  a  pious  Saturday 
night.  I  had  never  seen  that  way  before  and  asked 
my  uncle  who  said  he  guessed  the}'  were  Seventh  Day 
Baptists. 

After  many  da\-s  of  travel  which  became  to  me  quite 
monotonous  we  came  to  Cleveland,  on  Lake  Erie,  and 
here  my  uncle  found  his  box  of  goods,  loaded  it  into 
the  wagon  again,  and  traveled  on  through  rain  and 
mud,  making  very  slow  headway,  for  two  or  three 
days  after,  when  we  stopped  at  a  four-corners  in 
Medina  county  they  told  us  we  were  only  2 1  miles  from 
Cleveland.  Here  was  a  small  town  consisting  of  a 
hotel,  store,  church,  schoolhouse  and  blacksmith  shop, 
and  as  it  was  getting  cold  and  bad,  uncle  decided  to 
go  no  farther  now,  and  rented  a  room  for  himself  and 
aunt,  and  found  a  place  for  me  to  lodge  with  Daniel 
Stevens'  bov  close  bv.     We  got  good  stables  for  our 


20  DEATH  VALLEY. 

horses. 

I  went  to  the  district  school  here,  and  studied  read- 
ing, spelling  and  Colburn's  mental  arithmetic,  'which  I 
mastered.  It  began  very  easy — "How  many  thumbs 
on  3'our  right  hand?"  "How  many  on  your  left?" 
"How  many  altogether?"  but  it  grew  harder  further 
on. 

Uncle  took  employment  at  anything  he  could  find  to 
do,  Chopping  was  his  principal  occupation.  When 
the  snow  began  to  go  off  he  looked  around  for  a  farm 
to  rent  for  us  and  father  to  live  on  when  he  came,  but 
he  found  none  such  as  he  needed.  He  now  got  a  let- 
ter from  father  telling  him  that  he  had  good  news 
from  a  fiiend  named  Cornish  who  said  that  good  land 
nearh'  clear  of  timber  could  be  bought  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  Michigan  Tenitory,  some  sixty  or  sevent}' 
miles  beyond  Detroit,  and  this  being  an  opportunity  ot 

We  then  gave  up  the  idea  of  staying  here  and  pre- 
get  what  land  they  needed  with  their  .small  capital, 
they  would  start  for  that  place  as  soon  as  the  water- 
ways were  thawed  out,  probably  in  April, 
pared  to  go  to  Michigan  as  soon  as  the  frost  was  out 
of  the  ground.  vStarting,  we  reached  Huron  River  to 
find  it  it  swollen  and  out  of  its  bank,  giving  us  much 
trouble  to  get  across,  the  road  along  the  bottom  lands 
being  partly  covered  with  logs  and  rails,  but  once 
across  we  were  in  the  town  and  when  we  enquired 
about  the  road  around  to  Detroit,  they  .said  the  coun- 
try was  all  a  swamp  and  30  miles  wide  and  in  vSpring 
impassible.  They  called  it  the  Maumee  or  Black 
Swamp.  We  were  advised  to  go  by,  water  when  a 
steamboat  caine  up  the  river,  bound  for  Detroit  we  put 
our  wagons  and  horses  on  board,  and  camped  en  the 
lower  deck  ourselves.  We  had  our  own  food  and  were 
ven,-  comfortable,  and  glad  to  have  esaped  the  great 
mudhole. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  21 


CHAPTER  III. 

We  arrived  in  Detroit  safely,  and  a  few  minutes  an- 
swered to  land  our  wagons  and  goods,  when  we  rolled 
outward  in  a  westerly  direction.  We  found  a  verj^ 
muddy  roads,  stumps  and  log  bridges  plenty,  making 
our  rate  of  travel  very  slow,  When  out  upon  our  road 
aboui  30  miles,  near  Ypsilanti,  the  thick  forest  we  had 
been  passing  through  grew  thinner,  and  the  trees 
soon  dwindled  down  into  what  they  called  oak  open- 
ings, and  the  road  became  more  sandy.  When  we 
reached  McCracken's  Tavern  we  began  to  enquire  for 
Ebenezer  Mauley  and  family,  and  were  soon  directed 
to  a  large  house  near  by  where  he  was  stopping  for  a 
time. 

We  drove  up  ;o  the  door  and  they  all  came  out  to 
see  who  the  new  comers  were.  Mother  saw  me  first 
and  ran  to  the  wagon  and  pulled  me  off  and  hugged 
and  kissed  me  over  and  over  again,  while  the  tears 
ran  down  her  cheeks.  Then  she  would  hold  me  off  at 
arm's  length, and  look  me  in  the  e^^e  and  sa^- — "I  am 
so  glad  to  have  you  again" ;  and  then  she  embraced  me 
again  and  again.  "You  are  our  little  man,  "  said  she, 
"You  have  come  over  this  long  road,  and  brought  us 
our  good  horse  and  our  little  wagon. ' '  M}-  sister  PoU}^ 
two  years  older  than  I,  stood  patiently  by,  and  when 
mother  turned  to  speak  to  uncle  and  aunt,  she  locked 
arms  with  me  and  took  me  awa\-  with  her.  We  had 
never  been  separated  before  in  all  our  lives  and  we 
had  loved  each  other  as  good  children  should,  who 
have  been  brought  up  in  good  and  moral  princi- 
ples. We  loved  each  other  and  our  home  and  re- 
spected our  good  father  and  mother  who  had  made  it 


22  DEATH  VALI^EY. 

so  happy  for  us. 

We  all  sat  down  b}'  the  side  of  the  house  and  talked 
pretty  fast  telling  our  experience  on  our  long  journey 
by  land  and  water,  and  when  the  sun  went  downi  we 
were  called  to  supper,  and  went  hand  in  hand  to  sur- 
round the  bountiful  table  as  a  family  again.  During 
the  conversation  at  supper  father  said  to  me — "Lewis, 
I  have  bought  you  a  smooth  bore  rifle,  suitable  for 
either  ball  or  shot. ' '  This,  I  thought  was  good 
enough  for  any  one,  and  I  thanked  him  heartily.  We 
spent  the  greater  part  of  the  night  in  talking  over  our 
adventures  since  we  left  \'ermont,  and  sleep  was  for- 
gotten by  young  and  old. 

Next  morning  father  and  uncle  took  the  horse  and 
little  w^agon  and  went  out  in  search  of  Government 
land.  They  found  an  old  acquaintance  in  Jackson 
county  and  Oovernment  land  all  around  him,  and, 
searching  till  they  found  the  section  corner,  the}- 
found  the  number  of  the  lots  they  wanted  to  locate  on 
— 200  acres  in  all.  They  then  went  to  the  Detroit 
land  office  and  .'•;ecured  the  pieces  they  had  chosen. 

Father  now  bought  a  yoke  of  oxen,  a  wagon  and  a 
eow,  and  as  soon  as  we  could  get  loaded  up  our  little 
emigrant  train  started  west  to  our  future  home,  where 
we  arrived  safely  in  a  few  days  and  secured  a  house  to 
live  in  about  a  mile  away  from  our  land.  We  now 
worked  with  a  will  and  built  two  log  houses  and  also 
hired  10  acres  broken,  which  was  done  with  three  or 
four  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  strong  plow.  The  trees  were 
scattered  over  the  ground  and  some  small  brush  and 
old  limbs,  and  logs  which  we  cleared  away  as  we 
plowed.  Our  houses  went  up  very  fast — all  rough  oak 
logs,  with  oak  puncheons,  or  hewed  planks  for  a  floor, 
and  oak  shakes  for  a  roof,  all  of  our  own  make.  The 
shakes  were  held  dow^i  upon  the  roof  by  heavy  poles, 
for  we  had  no  nails,  the  door   of  split  stuff"  hung  with 


DEATH  VALLEY.  23 

wooden  hinges,  and  the  fire  place  of  stone  laid  up  with 
the  logs,  and  from  the  loft  floor  upward  the  chimney 
was  built  of  split  stuff  plastered  heavily  with  mud. 
We  have  a  small  four-paned  window  in  the  house. 
We  then  built  a  log  barn  for  our  oxen,  cow  and  horse 
and  got  pigs,  sheep  and  chickens  as  fast  as  a  chance 
offered. 

As  fast  as  possible  we  fenced  in  the  cultivated  land, 
father  and  uncle  splitting  out  the  rails,  while  a  younger 
brother  and  myself,  by  each  getting  hold  of  an  end  of 
one  of  them  managed  to  lay  up  a  fence  four  rails  high, 
all  we  small  men  could  do.  Thus  working  on,  we  had 
a  pretty  well  cultivated  farm  in  the  course  of  two  or 
three  years,  on  which  we  produced  wheat,  corn  and 
potatoes,  and  had  an  excellent  garden.  We  found 
plenty  of  wild  cranberries  and  whortleberries,  which 
we  dried  for  winter  use.  The  lakes  were  full  of  good 
fish,  black  bass  and  pickerel,  and  the  woods  had  deer, 
turkeys,  pheasants,  pigeons,  and  other  things,  and  I 
became  quite  an  expert  in  the  capture  of  small  game 
for  the  table  with  my  new  gun.  Father  and  uncle 
would  occasionally  kill  a  deer,  and  the  Indians  came 
along  and  sold  vension  at  times. 

One  fall  after  work  was  done  and  preparations  were 
made  for  the  winter,  father  said  to  me: — "Now  Lewis, 
I  want  you  to  hunt  every  day — come  home  nights — 
but  keep  on  till  you  kill  a  deer."  vSo  with  his  permis- 
.sion  I  started  with  my  gun  on  my  shoulder,  and  with 
feelings  of  considerable  pride.  Before  night  I  started 
two  deer  in  a  brushy  place,  and  they  leaped  high  over 
the  oak  bushes  in  the  most  affrighted  way.  I  brought 
my  gun  to  my  shoulder  and  fired  at  the  bounding  ani- 
mal when  in  most  plain  sight.  Ivoading  then  quickly. 
I  hurried  up  the  trail  as  fast  as  I  could  and  soon  came 
to  my  deer,  dead,  with  a  bullet  hole  in  its  head.  I  was 
really  surprised  myself,  for  I  had  fired  so  hastily  at  the 


24  DEATH  VALLEY. 

almost  flying  animal  that  it  was  little  more  than  a  ran- 
dom shot.  As  the  deer  was  not  very  heavy  I  dressed 
it  and  packed  it  home  myself,  about  as  proud  a  boy  as 
the  State  of  Michigan  contained.  I  really  began  to 
think  I  was  a  capital  hunter,  though  I  afterward  knew 
it  was  a  bit  of  good  luck  and  not  a  bit  of  skill  about  it. 

It  was  some  time  after  this  before  I  made  another 
lucky  shot.  Father  would  once  in  a  while  ask  me: — 
"Well  can't  you  kill  us  another  deer?"  I  told  him 
that  when  I  had  crawled  a  long  time  toward  a  sleep- 
ing deer,  that  I  got  so  trembly  that  I  could  not  hit  an 
ox  in  short  range.  "O, "  said  he,  "You  get  the  buck 
fever — don't  be  so  timid — they  won't  attack  you." 
But  after  awhile  this  fever  wore  off,  and  I  got  so 
steady  that  I  could  hit  anything  I  could  get  in  reach  of. 

We  were  now  quite  contented  and  happy.  Father 
•could  plainly  show  us  the  difference  between  this  coun- 
try and  \"ermont  and  the  advantages  we  had  here. 
There  the  land  was  poor  and  stony  and  the  winters  ter- 
ribly severe.  Here  there  were  no  stones  to  plow  over, 
and  the  land  was  otherwise  easy  to  till.  We  could 
raise  almost  anything,  and  have  nice  wheat  bread  to 
eat,  far  superior  to  the  "Rye-and-Indian"  we  used  to 
have.  The  nice  white  bread  was  good  enough  to  eat 
without  butter,  and  in  comparison  this  country  seemed 
a  real  paradise. 

The  supply  of  clothing  we  brought  with  us  had 
lasted  until  now — more  than  two  years — and  we  had 
sowed  some  flax  and  raised  sheep  so  that  we  began  to 
get  material  of  our  own  raising,  from  which  to  manu- 
facture some  more.  Mother  and  sister  spun  some  nice 
yarn,  both  woolen  and  linen,  and  father  had  a  loom 
made  on  which  mother  wove  it  up  into  cloth,  and  we 
were  soon  dressed  up  in  bran  new  clothes  again.  Do- 
mestic economy  of  this  kind  was  as  necessary  here  as  it 
was  in  \'ermont,  and  we  knew  well  how  to  practice  it. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  25 

About  this  time    the  emigTants    began  to  come  in 
very  fast,   and    every  piece  of  Government  land  any 
where  about  was  taken.     vSo  much  land  was  ploughed, 
and   so  much  vegetable  matter  turned  under  and  de- 
caying that  there  came  a  regular  epidemic  of  fever  and 
ague  and  bilious  fever,   and  a   large  majority   of  the 
people  were  sick.     At  our  house  father  was  the  first 
one  attacked,  and  when  the  fever  was  at  its  height  he 
was  quite  out  of  his  head  and  talked  and  acted  like  a 
crazy  man.     We  had  never  seen  an)'  one  so  sick   be- 
fore, and  we  thought  he  must  surely  die,  but  when  the 
doctor  came  he  said: — "Don't  be  alarmed.     It  is  only 
'fever  'n'  agur, '  and  no  one  was  ever  known  to  die  of 
that."     Others  of  us  were  sick  too,   and  most  of  the 
neighbors,    and  jt  made  us  all  feel  rather  sorrowful. 
The  doctor's  medicines  consisted  of  calomel,  jalap  and 
quinine,  all  used  pretty  freely,  by  some  with  benefit, 
and  by  others  to  no  visible  purpose,  for  they  had  to 
suffer  until  the  cold  weather  came  and  froze  the  disease 
out.     At  one  time  I  was  the  only  one  that  remained 
well,  and  I  had  to  nurse  and  cook,  besides  all  the  out- 
door work  that  fell  to  me.      My  sister  married  a  man 
near  by  with  a  good  farm  and  moved  there  with  him, 
a  mile  or  two  away.     When  she  went  away  I  lost  my 
real  bosom  companion  and  felt  very  lonesome,  but  I 
went  to  see  her  once  in  a  while,  and  that  was  pretty 
often,   I  think.     There  was  not  much  going  on  as  a 
general  thing.     Some  little  neighborhood  society  and 
news  was  about  all.     There  was,  however,  one  inci- 
dent which  occured  in  1837,  I  never  shall  forget,   and 
which  I  will  relate  in  the  next  cha])ter. 


26  DEATH  VALLEY. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

About  two  miles  west  father's  farm  in  Jackson 
county  Mich. .  lived  Ami  Filley,  who  moved  here  from 
Connecticut  and  settled  about  two  and  a  half  miles  from 
the  town  of  Jackson,  then  a  small  village  with  plenty 
of  stumps  and  mudholes  in  its  streets.  Many  of  the 
roads  leading  thereto  had  been  paved  with  tamarac 
poles,  making  what  is  now  known  as  corduroy  roads. 
The  countr}'  was  still  new  and  the  farm  houses  far  be- 
tween. 

Mr.  Filley  secured  Government  land  in  the  oak 
openings,  and  settled  there  with  his  wife  and  two  or 
three  children,  the  oldest  of  which  was  a  bo}*  named 
Willie.  The  children  were  getting  old  enough  to  go 
to  school,  but  there  being  none,  Mr.  Filley  hired  one 
of  the  neighbor's  daughters  to  come  to  his  house  and 
teach  the  children  there,  so  they  might  be  prepared 
for  usefulness  in  life  or  ready  to  proceed  further  with 
their  education — to  college,  perhaps  in  some  future 
day. 

The  young  woman  he  engaged  lived  about  a  mile 
a  half  away — Miss  Mary  Mount — and  she  came  over 
and  began  her  duties  as  private  school  ma'am,  not  a 
very  difficult  task  in  those  days.  One  day  after  she 
had  been  teaching  some  time  Miss  Mount  desired  to  go 
to  her  father's  on  a  visit,  and  as  she  would  pass  a 
huckleberry  swamp  on  the  way  .she  took  a  small  pail 
to  fill  with  berries  as  she  went,  and  by  consent  of  Wil- 
lie's  mother,  the  little  boy  went  with  her  for  company. 
Reaching  the  berries  she  began  to  pick,  and  the  little 
boy  found  this  dull  business,  got  tired  and  homesick 
and  wanted  to  go  home.  They  were  about  a  mile  from 
Mr.  Filley 's  and  as  there  was  a  pretty  good  foot  trail 
over  which  they  had  come,  the  young  woman  took 
the  bov  to  it,  and  turning  him  toward  home  told  him 


DEATH  \-ALLEV.  27 

to  follow  it  carefully  and  he  would  soon  see  his  mother. 
She  then  filled  her  pail  with  berries,  went  on  to  her 
own  home,  and  remained  there  till  nearly  sundown, 
when  she  set  out  to  return  to  Mr.  Filley's,  reaching- 
there  yet  in  the  early  twilight.  Not  seeing  Willie, 
she  inqired  for  him  and  was  told  that  he  had  not  re- 
turned, and  that  they  supposed  he  was  safe  with  her. 
She  then  hastily  related  how  it  happened  that  he  had 
started  back  toward  home,  and  that  she  supposed  he 
had  safely  arrived. 

Mr.  Filley  then  started  back  on  the  trail,  keeping- 
close  watch  on  each  side  of  the  way,  for  he  expected 
he  w^ould  soon  come  across  Master  Willie  fast  asleep. 
He  called  his  name  every  few  rods,  but  got  no  answer 
nor  could  he  discover  him,  and  so  returned  home 
again,  still  calling  and  searching,  but  no  boy  was  dis- 
covered. Then  he  built  a  large  fire  and  put  lighted 
candles  in  all  the  windows,  then  took  his  lantern  and 
went  out  in  the  woods  calling  and  looking  for  the  boy. 
vSometimes  he  thought  he  heard  him,  Ijut  on  going 
where  the  sound  came  from  nothing  could  be  found. 
vSo  he  looked  and  called  all  night,  along  the  trail  and 
all  about  the  woods,  with  no  succe.ss.  Mr.  Mount's 
home  was  situated  not  far  from  the  .shore  of  Fitch's 
Lake,  and  the  trail  w^ent  along  the  margin,  and  in 
some  places  the  ground  was  (juite  a  boggy  marsh,  and 
the  trail  had  been  fi.xed  uji  to  make  it  passably  good 
walking. 

Next  day  the  neighbors  were  notified,  and  asked 
to  a.ssist,  and  although  they  were  in  the  midst  of  wheat 
harvest,  a  great  many  laid  down  the  cradle  and  rake 
and  went  out  to  help  search.  On  the  third  day  the 
w^hole  county  became  excited  and  (juite  an  army  of 
earchers  turned  out  , coming  from  the  whole  country 
miles  around. 

Mr.  F^'illey  was  much  excited  and  quite  worn  out  and 


28  DEATH  VALLEY. 

beside  himself  with  fatigue  and  loss  of  sleep.  He 
could  not  eat.  Yielding  to  entreaty  he  would  sit  at 
the  table,  and  suddenly  rise  up,  saying  he  heard  Wil- 
lie calling,  and  go  out  to  search  for  the  supposed  voice,, 
but  it  was  all  frviitless,  and  the  whole  people  were 
sorry  indeed  for  the  poor  father  and  mother. 

The  people  then  formed  a  plan  for  a  thorough 
search.  They  were  to  form  in  a  line  so  near  each  other 
that  they  could  touch  hands  and  were  to  march  thus 
turning  out  for  nothing  except  inpassable  lakes,  and 
thus  we  marched,  fairly  sweeping  the  county  in  search 
of  a  sign.  I  was  with  this  party  and  we  marched 
south  and  kept  close  watch  for  a  bit  of  clothing,  a  foot 
print  or  even  bones,  or  anything  which  would  indicate 
that  he  had  been  destroyed  by  sonie  wild  animal. 
Thus  we  marched  all  day  with  no  success,  and  the  next 
went  north  in  the  same  careful  manner,  but  with  no 
better  result.  Most  of  the  people  now  abandoned  the 
search,  but  some  of  the  neighbors  kept  it  up  for  along- 
time. 

Some  expressed  themselves  quite  strongly  that  Miss 
Mount  knew  where  the  boy  was,  saying  that  she  might 
have  had  some  trouble  with  him  and  in  seeking  to 
correct  him  had  accidentally  killed  him  and  then  hid- 
den the  body  away — perhaps  in  the  deep  mire  of  the 
swamp  or  in  the  muddy  waters  on  the  margin  of  the 
lake.  vSearch  was  made  with  this  idea  foremost,  but 
nothing  was  discovered.  Rain  now  set  in,  and  the 
grain,  from  neglect  grew  in  the  head  as  it  stood,  and 
many  a  settler  ate  poor  bread  all  winter  in  con,sequence 
of  his  neighborly  kindness  in  the  midst  of  harvests 
The  bread  would  not  rise,  and  to  make  it  into  pancakes 
was  the  best  way  it  could  be  used. 

Still  no  tidings  ever  came  of  the  lost  bov.  Many 
things  were  whispered,  about  Mr.  Mount's  dishonesty 
of  character  and  there  were  manv    suspicions  about 


DEATH  VALLEY. 


29 


him,  but  no  real  facts  could  be  shown  to  account  for 
the  boy.  The  neighbors  said  he  never  worked  like 
the  rest  of  them,  and  that  his  patch  of  cultivated 
land  was  altogether  too  small  to  support  his  family,  a 
wife  and  two  daughters,  grown.  He  was  a  very 
smooth  and  affable  talker,  and  had  lots  of  acquaint- 
ances. A  few  years  afterwards  Mr.  Mount  was  con- 
victed of  a  crime  which  sent  him  to  the  Jackson  State 
Prison,  where  he  died  before  his  term  expired.  I  vis- 
ited the  Filley  family  in  1S70,  and  from  them  heard 
the  facts  anew  and  that  no  trace  of  the  lost  boy  had 
ever  been  discovered. 


30  DEATH  \'ALLEY. 

CHAPTER    V. 

Thk  second  year  of  sickness  and  I  was  affected  with 
the  rest,  though  it  was  not  generally  so  bad  as  the  first 
year.  ■  I  suffered  a  great  deal  and  felt  so  miserable 
that  I  began  to  think  I  had  rather  live  on  the  top  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  catch  chipmuncks  for  a  liv- 
ing than  to  live  here  and  be  sick,  and  I  began  to  have 
very  serious  thoughts  of  trying  some  other  country. 
In  the  winter  of  1839  and  1840  I  went  to  a  neigboring 
school  for  three  months,  where  I  studied  reading,  writ- 
ing and  spelling,  getting  as  far  as  Rule  of  Three  in 
Daboll's  arithmetic.  When  school  was  out  I  chopped 
and  split  rails  for  \\"m.  Hanna  till  I  had  paid  my  win- 
ter's board.  After  this,  m3^self  and  a  young  man 
named  Orrin  Henry,  with  whom  I  had  become  ac- 
quainted, worked  awhile  scoring  timber  to  be  used  in 
building  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad  which  had  just 
then  begun  to  be  built.  The}-  laid  down  the  ties  first 
(sometimes  a  mudsill  under  them)  and  then  put  down 
four  by  eight  wooden  rails  with  a  strips  of  band  iron 
half  an  inch  thick  spiked  on  top.  I  scored  the  timber 
and  Henry  used  the  broad  axe  after  me.  It  was  pretty 
hard  work  and  the  hours  as  long  as  we  could  see.  our 
wages  being  $13  per  month,  half  cash. 

In  thinking  over  our  prospect  it  seemed  more  and 
more  as  if  I  had  better  look  out  for  my  owm  fortune  in 
some  other  place.  The  farm  w^as  pretty  small  for  all 
of  us.  There  were  three  brothers  j-ounger  than  I,  and 
only  200  acres  in  the  whole,  and  as  they  were  growing 
up  to  be  men  it  seemed  as.  if  it  would  be  best  for  me, 
the  oldest,  to  start  out  first  and  see  what  could  be 
done  to  make  my  own  living.  I  talked  to  father  and 
mother  about  my  plans,  and  the}-  did  not  seriouslv  ob- 
ject, but  gave  me  some  good  advice,  which  I  remem- 
oer  to   this  da}- — "Weigh   well    everv  thing  vou   do; 


DKATH  \'ALLKV.  31 

shun  bad  conipaiu-;  be  honest  and  deal  fair;  be. truth- 
ful and  never  fear  when  you  know  you  are  right.  " 
But,  said  ha,  "Our  little  peach  trees  will  bear  this 
year,  and  if  you  go  away  you  must  come  baGk  and 
help  us  eat  them;  they  will  be  the  first  we  ever  raised 
or  ever  saw."     I  could  not  promise.  ..    ., 

Henry  and  I  drew  our  pay  for  our  work.  I  had  fi\-e 
dollars  in  cash  and  the  rest  in  pay  from  the  company 's 
store.  We  purchased  three  nice  whitewood  boards, 
eighteen  inches  wide,  from  which  we  made  .us, , a  boat 
and  a  good  sized  chest  which  we  filled  with  provi-sions 
and  some  clothing  and  quilts.  This,  with  our, guns 
and  ammunition,  composed  the  cargo  of  our. boat. 
When  all  was  ready,  we  put  the  boat  on  a  wagon  and 
were  to  haul  it  to  the  river  some  eight  miles  a\yay 
for  embarkation.  After  getting  the  wagon  ;loaded, 
father  said  to  me; — "Now  my  son,  you  are  starting 
oiit  in  life  alone,  no  one  to  watch  or  look  after  you. 
You  will  have  to  depend  upon  yourself  in  all  things. 
You  have  a  wide,  wide  world  to  operate  in — you  will 
meet  all  kinds  of  people  and  you  must  not  expect  to 
find  them  all  honest  or  true  friends.  You  are  limited 
in  money,  and  all  I  can  do  for  you  in  that  way  is  to 
let  you  have  what  ready  money  I  have.,""  He  handed 
me  three  dollars  as  he  spoke,  which  added  to  my  own 
gave  me  seven  dollars  as  my  money  capital  with  which 
to  .start  out  into  the  world  among  perfect  strangers, 
and  no  acquaintances  in  prospect  on  our  Western 
course. 

When  ready  to  start,  mother  and  sister  Polly  came 
out  to  see  us  off  and  to  give  us  their  Ijest  wishes,  hop- 
ing we  would  have  good  health,  and  find  ;^hHsant 
paths  to  follow.  Mother  said  to  me: — "You  must  be 
a  good  boy,  honest  and  law-abiding.  Remember  our 
advice,  and  honor  us  for  we  have  striven  to  make  you 
a    good  and  honest  man,   and    you    nuist  follow    our 


32  DEATH  VALLEY. 

teachings,  and  3'our  conscience  will  be  clear.  Do  no- 
thing to  be  ashamed  of;  be  industrious,  and  you  have 
no  fear  of  punishment."  We  were  given  a  great 
many  "Good  byes"  and  "God  bless  you 's"  as  with 
hands,  hats  and  handkerchiefs  they  waved  us  off  as 
far  as  we  could  see  them.  In  the  course  of  an 
hour  or  so  we  were  at  the  water's  edge,  and  on  a  beau- 
tiful morning  in  early  spring  of  1840  we  found  our- 
selves floating  down  the  Grand  River  below  Jackson. 

The  stream  ran  west,  that  we  knew,  and  it  was  west 
we  thought  we  wanted  to  go,  so  all  things  suited  us. 
The  stream  was  small  with  tall  timber  on  both  sides, 
and  so  many  trees  had  fallen  into  the  river  that  our 
navigation  was  at  times  seriously  obstructed.  When 
night  came  we  hauled  our  boat  on  shore,  turned  it 
partly  over,  so  as  to  shelter  us,  built  a  fire  in  front, 
and  made  a  bed  on  a  loose  board  which  we  carried  in 
the  bottom  of  the  boat.  We  talked  till  pretty  late  and 
then  lay  down  to  sleep,  but  for  my  part  my  eyes  would 
not  stay  .shut,  and  I  lay  till  break  of  day  and  the  little 
birds  began  to  sing  faintly. 

I  thought  of  many  things  that  night  which  seemed 
so  long.  I  had  left  a  good  dear  home,  where  I  had 
good  warm  meals  and  a  soft  and  comfortable  bed. 
Here  I  had  reposed  on  a  board  with  a  very  hard  pil- 
low and  none  too  many  blankets,  and  I  turned  from 
side  to  side  on  my  hard  bed,  to  which  I  had  gone  with 
all  my  clothes  on.  It  seemed  the  beginning  of  an- 
other chapter  in  mv  pioneer  life  and  a  rather  tough 
experience.  I  arose,  kindled  a  big  fire  and  sat  looking 
at  the  glowing  coals  in  still  further  meditation. 

Neither  of  us  felt  very  gleeful  as  we  got  our  break- 
fast and  made  an  early  start  down  the  river  again. 
Neither  of  us  talked  very  much,  and  no  doubt  my 
companion  had  similar  thoughts  to  mine,  and  won- 
dered what  was  before  us.      But  I  tliink  that  as  a  pair 


DEATH  VALLEY.  33 

we  were  at  that  moment  pretty  lonesome.  Henry  had 
rested  better  than  I  bnt  probably  felt  no  less  keenly 
the  separation  from  our  homes  and  friends.  We  saw 
plenty  of  squirrels  and  pigeons  on  the  trees  which 
overhung  the  river,  and  we  shot  and  picked  up  as 
many  as  we  thought  we  could  use  for  food.  When  we 
fired  our  guns  the  echoes  rolled  up  and  down  the  river 
lor  miles  making  the  feeling  of  loneliness  still  more 
keen,  as  the  sound  died  faintly  awav.  We  floated 
along  generally  very  quietly.  We  could  see  the  fish 
dart  under  our  boat  from  their  feeding  places  along  the 
bank,  and  now  and  then  some  tall  crane  would  spread 
his  broad  wings  to  get  out  of  our  wav. 

We  saw  no  houses  for  several  days,  and  seldom 
went  on  shore.  The  forest  was  all  hard  wood,  such 
as  oak,  ash,  walnut,  maple,  elm  and  beech.  Farther 
down  we  occasionally  passed  the  house  of  some  pio- 
neer hunter  or  trapper,  with  a  small  patch  cleared' 
At  one  of  these  a  big  green  boy  came  down  to  the 
bank  to  see  who  we  were.  We  said  "How  d'you  do, ' ' 
to  him,  and,  getting  no  response,  Henry  asked  him 
liow  far  is  was  to  Michigan,  at  which  a  look  of  su- 
preme disgust  came  over  his  features  as  he  replied — 
""'Taint  no  far  at  all. "' 

The  stream  grew  wider  as  we  advanced  along  its 
•downward  course,  for  smaller  streams  came  pouring  in 
to  swell  its  tide.  The  banks  were  still  covered  with 
Tieavy  timber,  and  in  some  places  with  quite  thick  un- 
dergrowth. One  day  we  saw  a  black  bear  in  the 
river  washing  himself,  but  he  went  ashore  before  we 
were  near  enough  to  get  a  sure  .shot  at  him.  Many 
-deer  tracks  were  seen  along  the  shore,  but  as  we  saw 
very  tew  of  the  animals  themselves,  they  were  i)roba- 
bly  night  visitors. 

One  day  we    overtook  some  canoes  containing   In 
dians,   men,   women  and  children.      They  were  poling 


34  DEATH  \' ALLEY. 

their  craft  around  in  all  directions  spearing  fish. 
They  caught  many  large  mullet  and  then  "vvent  on 
shore  and  made  camp,  and  the  red  ladies  began  scaling 
the  fish.  As  soon  as  their  lords  and  ma.sters  had  un- 
loaded the  canoes,  a  party  started  out  with  four  of  the 
boats,  two  men  in  a  boat,  to  try  their  luck  again. 
The}'  ranged  all  abreast,  and  moved  slowly  down  the 
stream  in  the  still  deep  water,  continually  beating  the 
surface  with  their  spear  handles,  till  they  came 
to  a  place  so  shallow  that  they  could  see  the  bot- 
tom easily,  when  they  suddenly  turned  the  canoes 
head  up  stream,  and  while  one  held  the  craft  steady  by 
sticking  his  spear  handle  down  on  the  bottom,  the 
other  stood  erect,  with  a  foot  on  either  gunwale  so  he 
could  see  whatever  came  down  on  either  side.  Soon 
the  big  fish  would  try  to  pass,  but  Mr.  Indian  had  too 
sharp  an  eye  to  let  him  escape  unobserved,  and  when 
he  came  within  his  reach  he  would  turn  his  .spear  and 
throw  it  like  a  dart,  seldom  missing  his  aim.  The 
poor  fish  would  struggle  desperately,  but  soon  came  to 
"the  surface,  when  he  would  be  drawn  in  and  knocked 
in  the  head  with  a  tomahawk  to  qiiiet  him,  when  the 
spear  was  cut  out  and  the  process  repeated.  We 
watched  them  about  an  hour,  and  during  that  time 
.someoneof  the  boats  was  continualh-  hauling  in  a  fish. 
They  were  sturgeon  and  ^•ery  large.  This  was  the  first 
time  we  had  ever  .seen  the  Indian's  way  of  catching  fish 
and  it  was  a  new  way  of  getting  grub  for  us.  When 
the  canoes  had  full  loads  they  paddled  uyi  toward  their 
camp,  and  we  drifted  on  again. 

When  we  came  to  Grand  Rapids  we  had  to  go  on 
.shore  and  tow  our  boat  carefulh'  along  over  the  many 
rocks  to  prevent  accident.  Here  was  a  sma-11  cheap 
looking  town.  On  the  west  bank  of  the  river  a  water 
wheel  was  driving  a  drill  boring  for  salt  water,  it 
seemed  through  solid  rock.      Up  to  this  time  the  cur- 


DKATH  VALLKV.  35. 

rent  was  slow,  and  its  course  through  a  dense  forest. 
We  occasionallv  saw  an  Indian  gliding  around  in  his 
canoe,  but  no  houses  or  clearings.  Occasionally  we 
saw  some  pine  logs  W'hich  had  been  floated  down  some 
of  the  streams  of  the  north.  One  of  these  small  rivers 
they  called  the  "Looking-glass,"  and  seemed  to  be 
the  largest  of  them. 

Passing  on  we  began  to  see  some  pine  timber,  and 
realized  that  we  were  near  the  mouth  of  the  river 
where  it  emptied  into  Lake  Michigan.  There  were 
some  steam  saw  mills  here,  not  then  in  operation,  and 
some  houses  for  the  mill  hands  to  live  in  when  they 
were  at  work.  This  prospective  city  was  called  Grand 
Haven.  There  was  one  schooner  in  the  river  loaded 
with  lumber,  ready  to  sail  for  the  west  side  of  the  lake 
as  soon  as  the  wind  should  change  and  become  favora- 
ble, and  we  engaged  passage  for  a  dollar  and  a  half  each. 
While  waiting  for  the  wind  we  visited  the  woods  in 
search  of  game,  but  tbund  none.  All  the  surface  of 
the  soil  was  clear  lake  sand,  and  some  cpiite  large  pine 
and  hemlock  trees  were  half  buried  in  it.  We  were 
not  pleased  wirh  this  place  for  it  looked  as  if  folks 
must  get  their  grub  from  .somewhere  else  or  live  on 
fish. 

Next  morning  we  were  off  early,  as  the  wind  hal 
changed,  but  the  lake  was  very  rough  and  a  heav\- 
choppy  sea  was  running.  Before  we  were  halt  way 
across  the  lake  nearlv  allwere  sea-sick,  passengers  and 
sailors.  The  poor  fellow  at  the  helm  stuck  to  his  ]iost 
casting  up  his  accounts  at  the  same  time,  putting  on 
an  air  of  terrible  misery. 

This,  I  thought  was  pretty  hard  usage  for  a  land- 
lubber like  myself  who  had  never  been  on  such  rough 
water  before.  The  effect  of  this  sea-sickness  was  to 
cure  me  of  a  slight  fever  and  ague,  and  in  fact  the  cure 
was  so  thorough  that  I  have  never  had   it  since.      As:, 


36  DEATH  VALLEY. 

Ave  neared  the  western  shore  a  few  houses  could  be 
.seen,  and  the  captain  said  it  was  Southport.  As 
there  was  no  wharf  our  schooner  put  out  into  the  lake 
again  for  an  hour  or  so  and  then  ran  back  again,  lying 
•oif  and  on  in  this  manner  all  night.  In  the  morning 
it  was  quite  calm  and  we  went  on  .shore  in  the 
schooner's  yawl,  landing  on  a  sandy  beach.  We  left 
our  chest  of  clothes  and  other  things  in  a  warehouse 
and  shouldered  our  packs  and  guns  for  a  march  across 
Avhat  .seemed  an  endless  prairie  stretching  to  the  west. 
We  had  .spent  all  our  lives  thus  far  in  a  country  where 
all  the  clearing  had  to  be  made  with  an  axe,  and  such 
a  broad  field  was  to  us  an  entirely  new  feature.  We 
laid  our  course  westward  and  tramped  on.  The 
houses  were  very  far  apart,  and  we  tried  at  everv  one 
■of  them  for  a  chance  to  work,  but  could  get  none,  not 
•even  if  we  would  work  for  our  board.  The  people  all 
seemed  to  be  new  settlers,  and  very  poor,  compelled  to 
do  their  own  work  until  a  better  day  could  be  reached. 
The  coarse  meals  we  got  were  very  reasonable,  gener- 
ally only  ten  cents,  but  .sometimes  a  little  more. 

As  we  travelled  westward  the  praries  .seemed  smaller 
"with  now  and  then  some  oak  openings  between.  vSome 
of  the  farms  .seemed  to  be  three  or  four  years  old,  and 
what  had  been  laid  out  as  towns  consisted  of  from 
three  to  six  houses,  small  and  cheap,  with  plenty  of 
vacant  lots.  The  soil  looked  rich,  as  though  it  might 
be  very  productive.  We  pas.sed  .several  small  lakes 
that  had  nice  fi.sh  in  them,  and  plenty  of  ducks  on  the 
surface. 

Walking  began  to  get  pretty  tiresome.  Great  blis- 
ters would  come  on  our  feet,- and,  tender  a,sthey  were, 
it  was  a  great  relief  to  take  oif  our  boots  and  go  bare- 
foot for  a  while  when  the  ground  was  favorable.  We 
crossed  a  wide  prairie  and  came  down  to  the  Rock 
river  where  there   were  a  few  houses  on  the  east  side 


DEATH  VALLEY.  37 

but  no  signs  of  habitation  on  the  west  bank.  We 
crossed  the  river  in  a  canoe  and  then  walked  seven 
miles  before  we  came  to  a  house  where  we  staid  all 
night  and  inquired  for  work.  None  was  to  be  had 
and  so  we  trampel  on  again.  The  next  day  we  met 
a  real  live  Yankee  with  a  one-horse  wagon,  peddling 
tin  ware  in  regular  Eastern  style,  We  inquired  of 
him  about  the  road  and  prospects,  and  he  gave  us  an 
encouraging  idea — said  all  was  good.  He  told  us 
where  to  stop  the  next  night  at  a  small  town  called 
Sugar  Creek.  It  had  but  a  few  houses  and  was  being 
built  up  as  a  mining  town,  for  some  lead  ore  had  been 
found  there.  There  were  as  many  Irish  as  Engli-sh 
miners  here,  a  rough  class  of  people.  We  ])ut  up  at 
the  hou.se  where  we  had  been  directed,  a  low  log 
cabin,  rough  and  dirty,  kept  l)y  Bridget  &  Co.  Sup- 
per was  had  after  dark  and  the  light  on  the  table  Avas 
just  the  right  one  for  the  place,,  a  saucer  of  grease, 
with  a  rag  in  it  lighted  and  burning  at  the  edge  of  the 
saucer.  It  at  lea.st  served  to  made  the  darkness  ap- 
parent and  to  prevent  the  dirt  being  visible.  We  had 
potatoes,  beans  and  tea,  and  probably  dirt  too,  if  we 
could  have  .seen  it.  When  the  meal  was  nearly  done 
Bridget  brought  in  and  deposited  on  each  plate  a  good 
thick  pancake  as  a  des.sert.  It  smelled  pretty  good^ 
but  when  I  drew  my  knife  across  it  to  cut  it  in  two, 
all  the  center  was  uncooked  batier,  which  ran  out 
upon  my  plate,  and  spoiled  m\-  sup])er. 

We  went  to  bed  and  soon  found  it  had  other  occu- 
pants beside  ourselves,  which,  if  they  were  small  were 
lively  and  spoiled  our  sleeping.  W'e  left  beibre  break- 
fast, and  a  few  miles  out  on  the  prairie  we  came  to  a 
house  occupied  b\-  a  woman  and  one  child,  and  we 
were  told  we  could  have  breakfast  if  we  could  wait  to 
have  it  cooked.  Everything  looked  cheap  but  cheery, 
and  after  waiting  a  little  while  outside  we  were  called 


260781 


38  DEATH  VALLEY. 

in  to  eat.  The  meal  con.si.sted  of  corn  bread,  bacon, 
potatoes  and  coffee.  It  was  well  cooked  and  looked 
better  than  things  did  at  Bridget's.  I  enjoyed  all  but 
the  coffee,  which  had  a  rich  brown  color,  but  when  I 
sipped  it  there  was  such  a  bitter  taste  I  surely  thought 
there  must  be  quinine  in  it,  and  it  made  me  shiver.  I 
tried  two  or  three  times  to  drink  but  it  was  too  much 
for  me  and  I  left  it.  W'e  shouldered  our  loads  and 
went  on  again.  I  asked  Henry  what  kind  of  a  drink 
it  was.  "Coffee,"  said  he,  but  I  had  never  seen  any 
that  tasted  like  that  and  never  knew  my  father  to  bu\- 
any  such  coffee  as  that. 

W'e  labored  along  and  in  time  came  to  another 
.small  place  called  Hamilton's  Diggings  where  some 
lead  mines  were  being  worked.  W'e  stopped  at  a  long, 
iow  log  house  with  a  porch  the  entire  length,  and 
called  for  bread  and  milk,  which  was  soon  set  before 
us.  The  lady  was  washing  and  the  man  was  playing 
with  a  child  on  the  porch.  The  little  thing  was  trying 
to  walk,  the  man  would  swear  terribly  at  it — not  in 
an  angrv  way,  but  in  a  sort  of  careless,  blasphemous 
style  that  was  terribly  shocking.  I  thought  of  the 
child  being  reared  in  the  midst  of  such  bad  language 
artd  reflected  on  the  kind  of  people  we  were  meeting 
In  this  far  away  place.  They  seemed  more  wicked 
and  profane  the  farther  west  we  walked.  I  had 
always  lived  in  a  more  moral  and  temperate  atmos- 
phere, and  I  was  learning  more  of  .some  things  in  the 
world  than  I  had  ever  known  before.  I  had  little  to 
say  and  much  to  see  and  listen  to  and  my  early  pre- 
cepts were  not  forgotten.  Xo  work  was  to  be  had 
here  and  we  set  out  across  the  prairie  toward  Mineral 
Point,  twenty  miles  away.  When  within  four  miles 
of  that  place  we  stopped  at  the  house  of  Daniel  Parkin- 
•son,  a  fine  looking  two-.story  building,  and  after  the 
meal  was  over  Mr.  Henry  hired  out  to  him  for  $16  per 


DEATH  \' ALLEY.  39 

month,  and  went  to  work  that  day.  I  heard  of  a  job 
of  cutting  cordwood  six  miles  away  and  went  after  it, 
for  our  money  was  getting  very  scarce,  but  when  I 
reached  the  place  I  found  a  man  had  been  there  half 
an  hour  before  and  secured  the  job.  The  proprietor, 
Mr.  Crow,  gave  me  my  dinner  which  I  accepted  with 
many  thanks,  for  it  saved  my  coin  to  pay  for  the  next 
meal.  I  now  went  to  Mineral  Point,  and  .searched 
the  town  over  for  work.  My  purse  contained  thirty- 
five  cents  only  and  I  .slept  in  an  unoccupied  out  house 
without  supper.  I  bought  crackers  and  dried  beef  for 
ten  cents  in  the  morning  and  made  my  first  meal  since 
the  day  before,  felt  pretty  low-spirited.  I  then  went 
to  \'ivian's  smelting  furnace  where  they  bought  lead 
ore,  smelted  it,  and  run  it  into  pigs  of  about  70  pounds 
each.  He  said  he  had  a  job  for  me  if  1  could  do  it 
The  furnace  was  propelled  ]:)y  water  and  the>-  had  a 
small  buzz  saw  for  cutting  four-foot  wood  into  blocks 
about  a  foot  long.  These  blocks  they  wanted  split  up 
in  })ieces  about  an  inch  square  to  mix  in  with  char- 
coal in  .smelting  ore.  He  said  he  would  board  me 
with  the  other  men,  and  give  me  a  dollar  and  a  quar- 
ter a  cord  for  splitting  the  wood.  I  felt  awfully  poor, 
and  a  stranger,  and  this  was  a  beginning  for  me  at 
any  rate,  so  I  went  to  work  with  a  will  and  never  lost 
a  minute  of  daylight  till  I  hads])lit  np  all  the  wood  and 
filled  his  woodhouse  completeh'  u]).  The  board  was 
ver\'  coarse — bacon,  potatoes,  and  bread — a  man  cook, 
and  bread  mixed  up  with  salt  and  water.  The  old  log 
house  wdiere  we  lodged  was  well  infested  with  trouble- 
some insects  which  worked  nights  at  any  rate, 
whether  they  rested  days  or  not,  and  the  beds  had  a 
mild  odor  of  pole-cat.  The  hou.se  was  long,  low  and 
withoiit  windows.  In  one  end  was  a  fireplace,  and 
there  were  two  tiers  of  bunks  on  each  side,  supplied 
with  straw  only.      In  the  space  between  the  bunks  was 


40  DEATH  \'ALLP:v. 

a  stationary  table,  with  stools  for  seats.  I  was  the 
only  American  who  boarded  there  and  I  could  not  well 
become  very  familiar  with  the  boarders. 

The  country  was  rolling",  and  there  were  many 
beautiful  brooks  and  clear  springs  of  water,  with  fer- 
ile  soil.  The  Cornish  miners  were  in  the  majority  and 
governed  the  localitv  politically.  My  health  was  ex- 
cellent, and  so  long  as  I  had  my  gun  and  ammunition 
I  could  kill  game  enough  to  live  on,  for  prairie  chick- 
ens and  deer  could.be  easily  killed,  and  meat  alone 
would  sustain  life,  so  I  had  no  special  fears  of  .starva- 
ttion.  I  was  now  paid  cff,  and  went  back  to  see  m 
companion,  Mr.  Henry.  1  did  not  hear  of  any  more 
work,  so  I  concluded  I  would  start  back  toward  my 
old  home  in  Michigan,  and  shouldered  my  bundle  and 
gun,  turning  my  face  eastward  for  a  long  tramp  acro.ss 
the  prairie.  I  knew  I  had  a  long  tramp  before  me, 
but  I  thought  best  to  head  that  way,  for  my  capital 
was  only  ten  dollars,  and  I  might  be  compelled  to 
walk  the  whole  distance.  I  walked  till  about  noon 
and  then  sat  down  in  the  .shade  of  a  tree  to  rest  for 
this  was  June  and  pretty  warm.  I  was  now  alone  in 
a  big  territory,  thinly  settled,  and  thought  of  my 
father's  home,  the  well  set  table,  all  happy  and  well 
fed  at  any  rate,  and  here  was  my  \'enture,  a  sort  of 
forlorn  hope.  Prospects  were  .surely  very  gloomy  for 
me  here  away  out  west  in  Wisconsin  Territory,  with- 
out a  relative,  friend  or  acquaintance  to  call  upon,  and 
very  small  means  to  travel  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
of  lonely  road — perhaps  all  the  way  on  foot.  There 
were  no  laborers  required,  hardl5-any  money  in  sight, 
and  no  chance  for  business.  I  knew  it  would  be  a 
safe  course  to  proceed  toward  home,  for  I  had  no  fear 
of  starving,  the  weather  was  warm  and  I  could  easily 
walk  home  long  before  winter  should  come  again. 
Still  the  outlook  was  not  very  pleasing  to  one  in  my 


DEATH  VALLEY.  41 

circumstances. 

I  chose  a  route  which  led  me  some  distance  north  of 
the  one  we  travelled  when  we  came  west,  but  it  was 
about  the  same.     Every  house  was  a  new  settler,  and 
hardly   one  who  had   yet  produced  anything  to  live 
upon.      Indue  time  I  came  to  the  Rock  River,  and  the 
onlv  house  in  sight  was  upon  the  east  bank.      I  could 
see  a  boat  over  there  and  so  I  called  for  it,   and  a 
young  girl  came  o\'er  with  a  canoe  for  me.     I  took  a 
paddle  and  helped  her  hold  the  boat  against  the  cur- 
rent, and  we  made  the  lauding  safely.      I  paid  her  ten 
cents  for  ferriage  and  went  on  again.     The  country 
was  now  level,   with  burr-oak  openings.      Near    .sun- 
down I  came  to  a  small  prairie  of  about  500  acres  sur- 
rounded by  scattering  burr-oak  timber,  with  uot  a  hill 
in  sight,  and  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  most  beautiful 
spot  on   earth.     This   I  found  to    belong  to  a     man 
named  Meachem,  who  had  an  octagon  concrete  house 
built   on  one   side  of  the    opening.     The   house  had  a 
hollow  column  in  the  center,   and  the  roof  was  so  con- 
structed that  all  the  rain  water  went  down  this  central 
column  into  a  cistern  below  for  house  use.     The  stairs 
wound  around  this  central  column,  and  the  whole  affair 
was  quite  different  from  the  most  of  settlers'  hou.ses- 
I  staid  here  all  night,  had  supper  and  breakfast,  and 
paid  my  bill  of  thirty-five  cents.      He  had  no  work  for 
me   so    I    went   on  again.      I    cro.ssed   Heart  Prairie, 
passed  through  a  strip   of  woods,  and   out  at   Round 
Prairie.      It  was  level  as  a  floor  with    a  slight  rise  in 
one  corner,  and  on  it  were  five  or  six  settlers.      Here 
fortune  favored  me,  for  here  I  found  a  man  whom  I 
knew,   who  once  lived  in   Michigan,   and  was  one  of 
our  neighbors  there  for  some  time.     His  name  was 
Nelson  Cornish.      I  rested  here    a  few  days,  and  made 
a  bargain  to  work  for  him  two  or  three  days  every 
week  for  my  board  as  long  as  I  wished  to  stay.      As  I 


42  DEATH  VALLEY. 

got  acquainted  1  found  some  work  to  do  and  many  of 
my  leisure  hours  I  spent  in  the  woods  with  my 
gun,  killing  sortie  deer,  some  of  the  meat  of  which  I 
sold.  In  haying  and  harvest  I  got  some  work  at  fift>' 
cents  to  one  dollar  per  day,  and  as  I  had  no  clothes  to 
Tduv,  I  spent  no  nionc}-,  saving  up  about  fifty  dollars 
bv  fall.  I  then  got  a  letter  from  Henry  saying  that  I 
could  get  work  with  him  for  the  winter  and  I  thought 
I  would  go  back  there  again. 

Before  thinking  of  going  west  again  I  had  to  go  to 
vSouthport  on  the  lake  and  get  our  clo;hes  we  had  left 
in  our  box  when  we  passed  in  the  spring.  So  I 
started  one  morning  at  break  of  day  ,  with  a  long  cane 
in  each  hand  to  help  me  along,  for  I  had  nothing  to 
carry,  not  even  w^earing  a  coat.  This  was  a  new  road, 
thinly  settled,  and  a  few  log  houses  building.  I  got  a 
IdowI  of  bread  and  milk  at  noon  and  then  hurried  on 
again.  The  last  twenty  miles  was  clear  prairie,  and 
houses  were  very  far  apart,  but  little  more  thickly  set- 
tled as  I  neared  Lake  Michigan.  I  arrived  at  the 
town  just  after  dark,  and  went  to  a  tavern  and  in- 
quired about  the  things.  I  was  told  that  the  ware- 
house had  been  broken  into  and  robbed,  and  the  pro- 
prietor had  fled  for  parts  unknown.  This  robbed  mc 
of  all  my  good  clothes,  amd  I  could  now  go  back  as 
lightly  loaded  as  when  I  came.  I  found  I  had  walked 
sixty  miles  in  that  one  day,  and  also  found  myself  very 
stiff  and  sore  so  that  I  did  not  .start  back  next  day, 
and  I  took  three  days  for  the  return  trip — a  very  un- 
profitable journey. 

'  - 1  was  notv  ready  to  go  west,  and  coming  across  a 
pet  deer  which  I  had  tamed,  I  knew  if  I  left  it  it 
would  wander  away  with  the  first  wild  ones  that  came 
along,  and  so  I  killed  it  and  made  my  friends  a  pres- 
ent of  some  venison-  I  chose  still  a  new  route  this 
time,  that  I  could  see  all  that  was  possible  of  this  big 


DEATH  \'ALLEY.  43 

territor}'  when  I  could  do  it  so  easily.  I  was  alwaj-s  a 
^reat  admirer  of  Nature  and  things  which  remained  as 
they  were  created,  and  to  the  extent  of  my  observa- 
tion,! thought  this  the  most  beautiful  and  perfect 
■country  I  had  seen  between  \'ermont  and  the  Missis- 
sippi River.  The  country  was  nearly  level,  the  land 
rich,  the  prairies  small  with  oak  openings  surrounding 
them,  very  little  marsh  land  and  streams  of  clear  wa- 
ter. Rock  River  was  the  largest  of  these,  running 
south.  Next  west  was  Sugar  River,  then  the  Pica- 
tonica.  Through  the  mining  region  the  country  was 
rolling  and  abundantly  watered  with  babbling  brooks 
and  health-giving  springs. 

In  point  of  health  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  far  better 
than  Michigan.  In  Mr.  Henry's  letter  to  me  he  had 
said  that  he  had  taken  a  timber  claim  in  "Ken- 
tuck  Grove,"  and  had  all  the  four- foot  wood  engaged 
to  cut  at  thirty-seven  cents  a  cord.  He  said  we  could 
board  ourselves  and  save  a  little  money  and  that  in 
the  spring  he  would  go  back  to  Michigan  with  me. 
This  had  decided  me  to  go  back  to  Mineral  Point.  I 
stopped  a  week  or  two  with  a  man  named  \Ve])b, 
hunting  with  him,  and  sold  game  enough  to  bring  me 
in  some  six  or  seven  dollars,  and  then  resumed  ni}- 
journc}'. 

On  my  way  I  found  a  log  house  ten  miles  from  a 
neighbor  just  before  I  got  to  the  Picatouica  Piver.  It 
belonged  to  a  Mr.  Shook  who,  with  his  wife  and  three 
children,  lived  on  the  edge  of  a  small  prairie,  and  had 
a  good  crop  of  corn.  He  invited  me  to  stay  with  him 
a  few  da5\s,  and  as  I  was  Lired  I  accepted  his  offer  and 
we  went  out  together  and  brought  in  a  deer.  We  had 
plenty  of  corn  bread,  venison  and  coffee,  and  lived 
well.  After  a  few  days  he  wanted  to  kill  a  steer  and 
he  led  it  to  a  proper  place  while  I  shot  it  in  the  head. 
We  had  no  waj-  to  hang  it  up  so  he  rolled  the  intes- 


44  DEATH  \'ALI.EY. 

tines  out,   and  I  sat  down  with  my  side   against  the 
steer  and  helped  him  to  pull  the  tallow  off. 

It  was  now  getting-  nearly  dark  and  while  he  was 
splitting  the  back  bone  wath  an  axe,  it  slipped  in  his 
greasy  hands  and  glancing,  cut  a  gash  in  my  leg  six 
inches  above  the  knee.  I  was  now  laid  up  for  two  or 
three  weeks,  but  was  well  cared  for  at  his  house.  Be- 
fore I  could  resume  my  journey  snow  had  fallen  to  the 
depth  of  about  six  inches,  which  made  it  rather  un- 
pleasant walking,  but  in  a  few  days  I  reached  Mr. 
Henry's  camp  in  "Kentuck  Orove,  "  when  after  com- 
paring notes,  we  both  began  swinging  our  axes  anel 
piling  up  cordwood,  cooking  potatoes,  bread,  bacon, 
coffee  and  flapjacks  ourselves,  which  we  enjoyed  with 
a  relish. 

I  now  went  to  work  for  Peter  Parkinson,  who  paid 
me  thirteen  dollars  per  month,  and  I  remained  with 
him  till  spring.  While  with  him  a  very  sad  affliction 
came  to  him  in  the  loss  of  his  wife.  He  was  presented 
by  her  with  his  first  heir,  and  during  her  illness  she 
was  cared  for  by  her  mother,  Mrs.  CuUany,  who  had 
come  to  live  with  them  during  the  winter.  When  the 
little  babe  was  two  or  three  weeks  old  the  mother  was 
feeling  in  such  good  spirits  that  she  was  left  alone  a 
little  while,  as  Mrs.  CuUany  was  attending  to  some 
duties  which  called  her  elsewhere.  When  she  returned 
she  was  surprised  to  see  that  both  Mrs.  Parkinson  and 
the  babe  were  gone.  P^veryone  turned  out  to  search 
for  her.  I  ran  to  the  smokehouse,  the  barn,  the  stable 
in  quick  order,  and  not  finding  her  a  search  was  made 
for  tracks,  and  we  soon  discovered  that  she  had  pa.ssed 
over  a  few  steps  leading  over  a  fence  and  down  an  in- 
cline toward  the  spring  house,  and  there  fallen, 
face  downward,  on  the  floor  of  the  house  which  was 
covered  only  a  few  inches  deep  with  water  lay  the  un- 
fortunate v'^"''^^i  and  her  child,  both  dead.     This  was 


DEATH  \^\LLEY.  45 

doubly  distressing-  to  Mr.  Parkinson  and  saddened  the 
whole  community.  Both  were  buried  in  one  grave, 
not  far  from  the  house,  and  a  more  im])ressive  funeral 
I  never  beheld. 

I  now  worked  awhile  again  with  Mr.  Henry  and  we 
sold  our  wood  to  Bill  Park,  a  collier,  who  made  and 
sold  charcoal  to  the  smelters  of  lead  ore.  When  the 
ice  was  gone  in  the  streams,  Henry  and  I  shouldered 
our  guns  and  bundles,  and  made  our  way  to  Milwau- 
kee, where  we  arrived  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  The 
town  was  small  and  cheaply  built,  and  had  no  wharf, 
so  that  when  the  steamboat  came  we  had  to  go  out  to 
it  in  a  small  boat.  The  .stream  which  came  in  here 
was  too  shallow  for  the  steamer  to  enter.  \\' hen  near 
the  lower  end  of  the  lake  we  stopped  at  an  island  to 
take  on  food  and  several  cords  of  white  birch  wood. 
The  ne.xt  stopping  place  was  at  Michilamackanac,  af- 
terward called  Mackinaw.  Here  was  a  short  wliarf, 
and  a  little  way  Ijack  a  hill,  which  seemed  to  me  to  be 
a  thousand  feet  higli,  on  which  a  fort  had  been  built. 
On  the  wharf  was  a  mixed  lot  of  people — Americans, 
Canadians,  Irish,  Indians,  squaws  and  i)appooses.  I 
saw  there  some  of  the  most  beautiful  fish  I  had  ever 
seen.  They  would  weigh  twenty  pounds  or  more,  and 
had  bright  red  and  yellow  spots  all  o\-er  them.  Thev 
called  them  trout,  and  they  were  beauties,  reallv.  At 
the  shore  near  by  the  Indians  were  loading  a  large 
white  birch  bark  canoe,  putting  their  luggage  along 
the  middle  lengthways,  and  the  pappooses  on  top.  One 
man  took  a  stern  .seat  to  steer,  and  four  or  five  more 
had  seats  along  the  gunwale  as  paddlers  and,  as  they 
moved  away,  their  strokes  were  as  even  and  regular  as 
the  motions  of  an  engine,  and  their  crafts  danced  as 
lightly  on  the  water  as  an  ey:;^  shell.  They  were  start- 
ing for  the  Michigan  shore  some  eight  or  ten  miles 
awav.      This  was  the  first  birch  ]:)ark  canoe  I  had  ever 


46  DEATH  VALLEY 

seen  and  was  a  great  curiosity  in  my  eyes. 

We  crossed  Lake  Huron  during  the  night,  and 
through  its  outlet,  so  shallow  that  the  wheels  stirred 
up  the  mud  from  the  bottom;  then  through  Lake  St. 
Clair  and  landed  safely  at  Detroit  next  day.  Here  we 
took  the  cars  on  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad,  and 
on  our  way  westward  stopped  at  the  ver^'  place  where 
we  had  worked,  helping  to  build  the  road,  a  year  or 
more  before.  After  getting  off  the  train  a  walk  of 
two  and  one  half  miles  brought  me  to  my  father's 
house,  where  I  had  a  right  royal  welcome,  and  the 
questions  the}'  asked  me  about  the  wild  country  I  had 
traveled  over,  how  it  looked,  and  how  I  got  along — 
were  numbered  by  the  thousand. 

I  remained  at  home  until  fall,  getting  some  work  to 
do  by  which  I  saved  some  money,  but  in  August  was 
attacked  wdth  bilious  fever,  which  held  me  down  for 
several  weeks,  but  nursed  by  a  tender  and  loving  mo- 
ther with  untiring  care,  I  recovered,  quite  slowly,  but 
sureh'.  I  felt  that  I  had  been  close  to  death,  and  that 
this  countr3'  was  not  to  be  compared  to  Wisconsin  with 
its  clear  and  bubbling  springs  of  health-giving  water. 
Feeling  thus,  I  determined  to  go  back  there  again. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  47 


CHAPTER  VL 


With  the  idea  of  returning  to  Wisconsin  I  made 
plans  for  my  movements.  I  purchased  a  good  outfit  of 
steel  traps  of  several  kinds  and  sizes,  thirty  or  forty  in 
all,  made  me  a  pine  chest,  with  a  false  bottom  to  sep- 
arate the  traps  from  my  clothing  when  it  was  packed 
in  traveling  order,  the  clothes  at  the  top.  My  former 
experience  had  taught  me  not  to  expect  to  get  work 
there  during  winter,  but  I  was  pretty  sure  something 
could  be  earned  by  trapping  and  hunting  at  this  sea- 
son, and  in  summer  I  was  pretty  sure  of  something  to 
do.  I  had  about  forty  dollars  to  travel  on  this  time, 
and  quite  a  stock  of  experience.  The  second  parting 
from  home  was  not  so  hard  as  the  first  one.  I  went  to 
Huron,  took  the  steamer  to  Chicago,  then  a  small, 
cheaply  built  town,  with  rough  sidewalks  and  terribly 
muddy  streets,  and  the  people  seemed  pretty  rough, 
for  sailors  and  lake  captains  were  numerous,  and 
knock  downs  quite  frequent.  The  country  for  a  long 
way  west  of  town  seemed  a  low,  wet  marsh  or  prairie. 

Finding  a  man  going  west  with  a  wagon  and  two 
horses  without  a  load,  I  hired  him  to  take  me  and  my 
baggage  to  my  friend  Nelson  Cornish,  at  Round  Prai- 
rie. They  were  glad  to  see  me,  and  as  1  had  not  yet 
got  strong  from  my  fever,  they  persuaded  me  to  stay 
a  while  with  them  and  take  some  medicine,  for  he  was 
a  sort  of  a  doctor.  I  think  he  must  have  given  me  a 
dose  of  calomel,  for  I  had  a  terribly  sore  mouth  and 
could  not  eat  any  for  two  or  three  weeks.  As  soon  as 
I  was  able  to  travel  I  had  myself  and  chest  taken  to 
the  stage  station  on  the  line  for  the  lake  to  Mineral 
Point.      1  think  this  place  was  called  Geneva.     On  tqe 


48  DEATH  \'ALLEY. 

tag-e  I  got  along  pretty  fast,  and  part  of  the  time  on  a 
new  road.  The  first  place  of  note  was  Madison  the 
capital  of  the  territory,  situated  on  a  block  of  land 
nearly  surrounded  by  four  lakes,  all  plainly  seen  from 
the  big  house.  Further  on  at  the  Blue  Mounds  I  left 
the  stage,  putting  my  chest  in  the  landlord's  keeping 
till  I  should  come  or  send  for  it. 

I  walked  about  ten  miles  to  the  house  of  a  friend 
named  A.  Bennett,  who  was  a  hunter  and  lived  on  the 
bank  of  the  Picatonica  River  with  his  wife  and  two 
children.  I  had  to  take  many  a  rest  on  the  way.  for  I 
was  very  weak. 

Resting  the  first  few  days,  Mrs.  Bennett's  father, 
:slr.  J.  P.  Dilly,  took  us  out  about  six  miles  and  left 
us  to  hunt  and  camp  for  a  few  days.  We  were  quite 
successful,  and  killed  five  nice,  fat  deer,  which  we 
dressed  and  took  to  Mineral  Point,  selling  them 
rapidly  to  the  Cornish  miners  for  twenty-five  cents  a 
quarter  for  the  meat.  We  followed  this  business  till 
about  January  first,  when  the  game  began  to  get  poor, 
when  we  hung  up  our  guns  for  a  while.  I  had  a  lit- 
tle money  left  yet.  The  only  money  in  circulation 
was  American  silver  and  British  sovereigns.  They 
would  not  sell  lead  ore  for  paper  money  nor  on  credit. 
During  the  spring  I  used  my  traps  successfully,  so 
that  I  saved  something  over  board  and  expenses. 

In  summer  I  worked  in  the  mines  with  Edwin  Buck 
of  Bucksport,  Maine,  but  only  found  lead  ore  enough 
;o  pay  our  expenses  in  getting  it.  Next  winter  I 
chopped  wood  for  thirty-five  cents  per  cord  and 
boarded  myself.  This  was  poor  bu.siness;  poorer  than 
hunting.  In  summer  I  found  work  at  various  things, 
but  in  the  fall  Mr.  Buck  and  myself  concluded  that  as 
we  were  both  hunters  and  trappers,  we  would  go 
northward  toward  Lake  Superior  on  a  hunting  expedi- 
tion, and,  perhaps  remain  all  winter.      We  replenished 


DEATH  vXlLEV. 


49 


our  outfit,  and  engaged  Mr.  Bennett  to  take  us  well 
up  into  the  north  country.  We  crossed  the  Wisconsin 
River  near  Muscoda,  went  then  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
where  we  found  a  large  stone  fur  trading  house,  owned 
by  Mn  Brisbois,  a  Frenchman,  from  whom  we  ob- 
tained some  information  of  the  country  further  on.  He 
assured  us  there  was  no  danger  from  the  Indians  if  we 
let  them  alone  and  treated  them  fairly. 

We  bought  fifty  pounds  of  flour  for  each  of  us,  and 
then  started  up  the  divide  between  the  Wisconsin  and 
Mississippi  Rivers.  On  one  side  flowed  the  Bad  River, 
and  on  the  other  the  Kickapoo.  We  traveled  on  this 
divide  about  three  days,  when  Mr,  Bennett  became 
afraid  to  go  any  further,  as  he  had  to  return  alone  and 
the  Indians  might  capture  him  before  he  could  get 
back  to  the  settlement,  We  camped  early  one  night 
and  went  out  hunting  to  get  some  game  for  him.  I 
killed  a  large,  black  bear  and  Mr.  Bennett  took  what 
he  wanted  of  it,  including  the  skin,  and  started  back 
next  morning. 

We  now  cached  our  things  in  various  places,  .scat- 
tering them  well.  vSome  went  in  hollow  logs,  and 
some  under  heaps  of  brush  or  other  places,  where 
the  Indians  could  not  find  them.  We  then  built  a 
small  cabin  about  six  by  eight  feet  in  size  and  four  fee^ 
high,  in  shape  like  a  A-  "^Ve  were  not  thoroughl> 
pleased  with  this  location  and  started  out  to  explore 
the  country  to  the  north  of  us,  for  we  had  an  idea  that 
it  would  be  better  hunting  there. 

The  first  day  we  started  north  we  killed  a  bear,  and 
filled  our  stomachs  with  the  fat,  sweet  meat.  The 
next  night  we  killed  another  bear  after  a  little  strug- 
gling. The  dog  made  him  climb  a  tree  and  we  shot 
at  him;  he  would  fall  to  the  ground  as  if  dead,  but 
would  be  on  his  feet  again  in  an  instant,  when,  alter 
the  dog  had  fastened  to  his  ham,  he  w(mld  climb  llie 


50  DEATH  VALLEY. 

tree  again.  In  the  third  trial  he  lay  in  the  fork  and 
had  a  good  chance  to  look  square  at  hi.s  tormenter.  I 
shot  him  in  the  head,  and  as  he  la}'  perfectly  still. 
Buck  said: — "Xow  you  have  done  it — we  can't  get 
him. ' '  But  in  a  moment  he  began  to  struggle,  and 
soon  came  down,  lifeless. 

Here  we  camped  on  the  edge  of  the  pine  forest,  ate 
all  the  fat  bear  meat  we  could,  and  in  the  morning 
took  separate  routes,  agreeing  to  meet  again  a  mile  or 
so  farther  up  a  small  brook.  I  soon  saw  a  small  bear 
walking  on  a  log  and  shot  him  dead.  His  mate  got 
away,  but  I  set  my  dog  on  him  and  he  soon  had  to 
climb  a  tree.  When  I  came  up  to  where  the  dog  was 
barking  I  saw  Mr.  Bear  and  fired  a  ball  in  him  that 
brought  him  down.  Just  then  I  heard  Mr.  Buck  shoot 
clo.se  by,  and  I  went  to  him  and  found  he  had  killed 
another  and  larger  bear.  We  stayed  here  another 
night,  dressed  our  game  and  sunk  the  meat  in  the 
brook  and  fastened  it  down,  thinking  we  might  want 
to  get  some  of  it  another  time. 

We  were  so  well  pleased  with  this  hunting  ground 
that  we  took  the  bear  skins  and  went  back  to  camp. 
When  we  got  there  our  clothes  were  pretty  well  satu- 
rated with  bear's  oil,  and  we  jokingly  .said  it  must 
have  soaked  through  our  bodies,  we  had  eaten  so  much 
bear  meat.  I  began  to  feel  quite  sick,  and  had  a  bad 
headache.  I  felt  as  if  something  mu.st  be  done,  but  we 
had  no  medicine.  Mr.  Buck  went  down  by  the  creek 
and  dug  some  roots  he  called  Indian  Physic,  then 
steeped  them  until  the  infusion  seemed  as  black  as  mo- 
lasses, and,  when  cool  told  me  to  take  a  swallow  every 
fifteen  minutes  for  an  hour,  then  half  as  much  for  an- 
other hour  as  long  as  I  could  keep  it  down.  I  followed 
directions  and  vomited  freely  and  for  a  long  time,  but 
felt  better  afterward,  and  .soon  got  well.  It  reminded 
me  some  of  the  feelings  I  had  when  I  was  seasick  on 


DEATH  \' ALLEY.  51 

Lake  Michigan. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  describe  how  we  were 
dressed  to  enter  on  this  winter  campaign.  We  wore 
mocassins  of  our  own  make.  I  had  a  buckskin  jumper,, 
and  leggins  that  came  up  to  ni}'  hips.  On  my  head  a 
drab  hat  that  fitted  close  and  had  a  rim  about  two 
inches  wide.  In  fair  weather  I  went  bare-headed,  In- 
dian fashion.  I  carried  a  tomahawk  which  I  had 
made.  The  blade  was  two  inches  wide  and  three 
inches  long — the  poll  two  inches  long  and  about  as 
large  round  as  a  dime:  handle  eighteen  or  twenty 
inches  long  with  a  knob  on  the  end  so  it  would  not 
easily  slip  from  the  hand.  Oiled  patches  for  our  rifle 
balls  on  a  string,  a  firing  wire,  a  charger  to  measure 
the  powder,  and  a  small  piece  of  leather  with  four  nip- 
ples on  it  for  caps — all  on  my  breast,  so  that  I  could 
load  very  rapidly.  My  bed  was  a  comfort  I  made  my- 
.self,  a  little  larger  than  usual.  I  lay  down  on  one 
side  of  the  bed  and  with  my  gun  close  to  me,  turned 
the  blanket  over  me.  When  out  of  camp  I  never  left 
my  gun  out  of  my  reach.  We  had  to  be  real  Indians 
in  custom  and  actions  in  order  to  be  considered  their 
equals.  We  got  our  food  in  the  same  way  they  did, 
and  so  they  had  nothing  to  a.sk  us  for.  They  consid- 
ered themselves  the  real  kings  of  the  forest. 

We  now  determined  to  move  camp,  which  proved 
quite  a  job  as  we  had  to  pack  everything  on  our  backs; 
which  we  did  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles  to  the  bank  of  a 
small  stream  where  there  were  three  \nne  trees,  the 
only  ones  to  be  found  in  many  miles.  We  made  us  a 
canoe  of  one  of  them.  While  we  were  making  the 
canoe  three  Indians  came  along,  and  after  they  had 
eaten  some  of  our  good  venison,  the}'  left  us.  These 
were  the  first  we  had  seen,  and  we  began  to  be  more 
cautious  and  keep  everything  well  hid  away  from 
camp   and  make  them    think  we  were  as  poor  as  they 


^2  DEATH  VALLEY. 

were,  so  they  might  not  be  tempted  to  molest  us. 

We  soon  had  the  canoe  done  and  loaded,  and  em- 
barked on  the  brook  down  stream.  We  fomid  it  rather 
difficult  work,  but  the  stream  grew  larger  and  we  got 
along  ver}'  well.  We  came  to  one  place  where  otter 
signs  seemed  fresh,  and  stopped  to  set  a  trap  for  them. 
Our  dog  sat  on  the  bank  and  watched  the  operation, 
and  when  we  started  on  we  could  not  get  him  to  ride 
or  follow.  Soon  we  heard  him  cry  and  went  back  to 
find  he  had  the  trap  on  his  fore  foot.  To  get  it  off  we 
had  to  put  a  forked  stick  over  his  neck  and  hold  him 
down,  he  was  so  excited  over  his  mishap.  When  he 
was  released  he  left  at  full  speed  and  was  never  seen 
by  us  after. 

When  we  got  well  into  the  pine  woods  we  camped 
and  cached  our  traps  and  provisions  on  an  island,  and 
made  our  camp  further  down  the  stream  and  some  lit- 
tle distance  from  the  .shore.  We  soon  found  this  was 
very  near  a  logging  camp,  and  as  no  one  had  been  liv- 
ing there  for  a  year,  we  moved  camp  down  there  and 
occupied  one  of  the  empty  cabins.  We  began  to  .set 
<lead-fall  traps  in  long  lines  in  many  different  direc- 
tions, blazing  the  trees  so  we  could  find  them  if  the 
snow  came  on.  West  of  this  about  ten  miles,  wher^ 
we  had  killed  some  deer  earlier,  we  made  a  A-shaped 
cabin  and  made  dead  falls  niany  miles  around  to  catch 
fishes,  foxes,  mink  and  raccoons.  We  made  weekly 
journeys  to  the  places  and  generally  staid  about  two 
nights. 

One  day  when  going  over  my  trap  lines  I  came  to 
a  trap  which  I  had  set  where  1  had  killed  a  deer,  and 
saw  by  the  siiow  that  an  eagle  had  been  caught  in  the 
trap  and  had  broken  the  chain  and  gone  away.  1 
followed  on  the  trail  he  made  and  soon  found  him.  He 
tried  to  fly  but  the  trap  was  too  heavy,  and  he  could 
onlv  go  slowlv  and  a  little  wav.      I  fired  and  put  a  ball 


DKATH  VALLEY.  53 

in  him  and  he  fell  and  rolled  under  a  large  log  on  the 
hillside.  As  I  took  the  trap  off  I  saw  an  Indian  com- 
ing down  the  hill  and  Ijronght  my  gun  to  bear  on  him. 
He  stopped  suddenly  and  made  signs  not  to  shoot,  and 
I  let  him  come  n]).  He  made  signs  that  he  wanted 
the  feathers  of  the  Inrd  which  I  told  him  to  take,  and 
then  he  wanted  to  know  where  we  slejit.  I  pointed 
ont  the  way  and  made  him  go  ahead  of  me  there,  for  I 
did  not  want  him  behind  me.  At  cam])  he  made  signs 
for  something  to  eat,  but  w^hen  I  showed  him  meat  he 
.shook  his  head.  However  he  took  a  leg  of  deer  and 
.started  on,  1  following  at  a  good  distance  till  satisfied 
that  he  would  not  come  back. 

We  ha  1  not  taken  pains  to  keep  track  of  the  day  of 
the  week  or  month;  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun 
and  the  changes  of  the  moon  w^ere  all  the  almanacs  we 
i{ad.  Then  snow  came  about  a  foot  dee]i,  and  some  days 
were  so  cold  we  could  not  leave  our  cam}>  fire  at  all. 
As  no  Indians  appeared  we  were  quite  successful  and 
kept  our  bundle  of  furs  in  a  hollow  standing  tree  some 
distance  from  camp,  and  when  we  went  that  way  we 
never  stopped  or  left  any  sign  that  we  had  a  de]'>osit 
there. 

Some  time  after  it  was  all  frozen  up  sol'd,  some 
men  with  two  yoke  of  oxen  came  u])  to  cut  and  put 
logs  in  the  river  to  raft  down  when  the  ice  went  out. 
With  them  came'a  shingle  weaver,  with  a  i)on\-  and  a 
small  sled,  and  .some  Indians  also.  We  now  had  to  take 
up  all  of  our  steel  traps,  and  rob  all  our  dead-falls  and 
([uit  business  generally — even  then  tliey  got  some  of 
onr  traps  before  we  could  get  them  gathered  in.  We 
were  now  comparatively  idle. 

Until  these  loggers  came  we  did  not  know  exactly 
where  we  were  situated,  but  they  told  us  we  were  on 
the  Lemonai  river,  a  branch  of  the  Wisconsin,  and 
that  we  could  ":et  out  bv  ofoing:  west  till  we  found  the 


54  DEATH  VALLKY. 

Mississippi  river  and  then  home.  We  hired  the  shin- 
gle man  with  his  pony  to  take  us  to  Black  River,  fur- 
ther north  which  we  reached  in  three  days,  and  found 
a  saw  mill  there  in  charge  of  a  keeper.  Up  the  river 
farther  we  found  another  mill  looked  after  by  Sam 
Ferguson.  Both  mills  were  frozen  up.  The  Indians 
had  been  here  all  winter.  They  come  from  Lake  Su- 
perior when  the  swamps  froze  up  there,  to  hvint  deer, 
till  the  weather  gets  warm,  then  they  returned  to  the 
T.ake  to  fish, 

Of  course  the  presence  of  the  Indians  made  game 
scarce,  but  the  mill  men  told  us  if  we  would  go  up 
farther  into  the  marten  country  they  thought  we  would 
do  well.  We  therefore  made  us  a  hand  sled,  put  some 
provisions  and  traps  on  board,  and  started  up  the  river 
on  the  ice.  As  we  went  the  snow  grew  deeper  and  we 
had  to  cut  hemlock  boughs  for  a  bed  on  top  of  the 
snow.  It  took  about  a  half  a  cord  of  wood  to  last  us 
all  night,  audit  was  a  trouble  to  cut  holes  in  the  ice 
to  water,  for  it  was  more  than  two  feet  thick.  Our  fire 
kindled  on  the  snow,  would  be  two  or  three  feet  below 
on  the  ground,  by  morning.  This  country  was  heav- 
ily timbered  with  cedar,  or  spruce  and  apparently  very 
/ei^el. 

One  day  we  saw  two  otters  coming  toward  us  on  the 
ice.  We  shot  one,  but  as  the  other  gun  missed  fire, 
the  other  one  escaped,  for  I  could  not  overtake  it  in  the 
woods.  We  kept  on  irp  the  river  till  we  began  to  hear 
the  Indians'  guns,  and  then  we  camped  and  did  not 
fire  a  gun  for  t\vo  days,  for  we  were  afraid  we  might  be 
discovered  and  robbed,  and  we  knew  we  could  not 
stay  long  after  our  grub  was  gone.  All  the  game  we 
could  catch  was  the  marten  or  sable,  which  the  Indians 
called  ]]\i[iibiisas/i.  The  males  were  snuff  color  and 
the  female  much  darker.  Mink  were  scarce,  and  the 
beaver,  living  in  the  river  bank,  could  not  be  got  at  till 


DEATH  VALLEY.  55 

the  ice  went  out  in  the  spring. 

We  now  began  to  make  marten  traps  or  dead-falls, 
and  set  them  for  this  small  game.  There  were  many 
cedar  and  tamarack  swamps,  indeed  that  was  the  prin- 
cipal featiire,  but  there  were  some  ridges  a  little  higher 
where  some  small  pines  and  beech  grew.  Now  our 
camp  was  one  place  where  there  was  no  large 
timber  caused  by  the  stream  being  dammed  by  the 
Ijeaver.  Here  were  some  of  the  real  Russian  Balsam 
trees,  the  most  beautiful  in  shape  I  had  ever  seen. 
They  were  very  dark  green,  the  boughs  very  thick, 
and  the  tree  in  shape  like  an  inverted  top.  Our  lines 
of  trips  led  for  miles  in  every  direction  marked  by 
bla/.ed  trees.  We  made  a  trap  of  two  poles,  and  chips 
which  we  split  from  the  trees.  These  were  set  in  the 
snow  and  covered  with  brush.  We  sometimes  found 
a  porcupine  in  the  iop  of  a  pine  tree.  The  only  signs 
of  his  presence  were  the  chips  he  made  in  gnawing  the 
bark  for  food.  They  never  came  down  to  the  ground 
as  we  saw.  They  were  about  all  the  game  that  was 
good  to  eat.  I  would  kill  one,  skin  it  and  drag  the 
carcass  after  me  all  day  as  I  set  traps,  cutting  off  bits 
for  bait,  and  cooking  the  rest  for  ourselves  to  eat. 
We  tried  to  eat  the  marten  but  it  was  pretty  musky 
and  it  was  only  by  putting  on  plent}'  of  .salt  and  pep- 
l)er  that  we  managed  to  eat  them.  We  were  reallj- 
forced  to  do  it  if  we  remained  here.  We  secured  a 
good  many  of  these  little  fellows  which  have  about  the 
the  best  fur  that  is  found  in  America. 

We  were  here  about  three  weeks,  and  our  provisions 
giving  out  and  the  ice  becoming  tender  in  the  swamp 
were  two  pretty  strong  reasons  for  our  getting  out,  so 
we  shouldered  our  packs  of  fur  and  our  guns  and,  get- 
ting our  course  from  a  pocket-compass,  we  started 
out.  As  we  pushed  on  we  came  to  some  old  windfalls 
that  were    troublesome  to  get   through.     The  dense 


56  DEATH  VAhhEY. 

timber  seenied  to  be  six  feet  deep,  and  we  would 
sometimes  clinil)  over  and  sometimes  crawl  under,  the 
fallen  trees  were  so  thickly  mixed  and  tangled. 

Mr.  Buck  got  so  completely  tired  that  he  threw 
away  his  traps.  W'e  reached  our  starting  place  at 
O 'Neil's  saw-mill  after  many  days  of  the  hardest  work, 
and  nearly  starved,  for  we  had  seen  no  game  on  our 
trip.  We  found  our  traps  and  furs  all  safe  here  and  as 
this  stream  was  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, we  decided  to  make  us  a  boat  and  float  down 
toward  that  noted  stream,  We  secured  four  good 
boards  and  built  the  boat  in  which  we  started  down 
the  river  setting  traps  and  moving  at  our  leisure.  We 
found  plenty  of  fine  ducks,  two  bee  trees,  and  caught 
some  cat-fish  with  a  hook  and  line  we  got  at  the  mill. 
We  also  caught  some  otter,  and,  on  a  little  branch  of 
the  river  killed  two  bears,  the  skin  of  one  of  them 
weighing  five  pounds.  We  met  a  keel  boat  being- 
poled  up  the  river,  and  with  the  last  cent  of  money  we 
possessed  bought  a  little  flour  of  them. 

About  the  first  of  May  we  reached  Prairie  du  Chien. 
Here  we  were  met  with  some  surprise,  for  Mr.  Bris- 
bois  said  he  had  heard  we  were  killed  or  lost.  He 
showed  us  through  his  warehouses  and  pointed  out  to 
us  the  many  bales  of  different  kinds  of  furs  he  had  on 
hand.  He  told  us  we  were  the  best  fur  handlers  he 
had  seen,  and  paid  us  two  hundred  dollars  in  Ameri- 
can gold  for  what  we  had.  We  then  stored  our 
traps  in  the  garret  of  one  of  his  warehouses,  which 
was  of  stone,  two  stories  and  an  attic,  as  we  thought 
of  making  another  trip  to  this  country  if  all  went  well. 

We  now  entered  our  skiff"  again  and  went  on  down 
the  great  river  till  we  came  to  a  place  nearly  opposite 
Mineral  Point,  when  we  gave  our  boat  to  a  poor  set- 
tler, and  with  guns  and  bundles  on  our  backs  took  a 
atraight  shoot    for   home    on    foot.     The  second    day 


DEATH  VAIXEY. 


57 


about  dark  we  came  in  the  edge  of  the  town  and  were 
seen  bj'  a  lot  of  boys  who  eyed  us  closely  and  with 
much  curiosity,  for  we  were  dressed  in  our  trapping: 
suits.  They  followed  us,  and  as  we  went  along  the 
crowd  increased  so  that  when  we  get  toCrum.  I^lo^'d's. 
tavern  the  door  was  full  of  boys'  heads  looking  at  us 
as  if  we  were  a  circus.  Here  we  were  heartily  wel- 
comed, and  every  body  was  glad  to  see  us,  as  they 
were  about  to  start  a  company  to  go  in  search  of  their 
reported  murdered  friends.  It  seems  a  missionary  got 
lost  on  his  wa}'  to  Prairie  L,a  Crosse  and  had  come 
across  our  deserted  cabin,  and  when  he  came  in  he  re- 
ported us  as  no  doubt  murdered. 

I  invested  all  of  my  hundred  dollars  in  busing  eighty 
acres  of  good  Government  land.  This  was  the  first 
$ioo  I  ever  had  and  I  felt  very  proud  to  be  a  land 
owner.  I  felt  a  little  more  like  a  man  now  than  I  had 
ever  felt  before,  for  the  money  was  hard  earned  and 
all  mine. 


.58  DEATH  \' ALLEY. 


CHAPTER  VIL 

Mr.  Buck  and  myself  concluded  we  would  try  our 
luck  at  lead  mining  for  the  summer  and  purchased 
some  mining  tools  for  the  purpose.  We  camped  out 
and  dug  holes  around  all  summer,  getting  just  about 
enough  to  pay  our  expenses — not  a  very  encouraging 
venture,  for  we  had  lived  in  a  tent  and  had  picked  and 
shoveled  and  blasted  and  twisted  a  windlass  hard 
enough  to  have  earned  a  good  bit  of  money. 

In  the  fall  we  concluded  to  try  another  trapping- 
tour,  and  set  out  for  Prairie  du  Chien.  We  knew  it 
was  a  poor  place  to  spend  money  up  in  the  woods,  and 
when  we  got  our  money  it  was  all  in  a  lump  and 
seemed  to  amount  to  .something.  Mr"  Brisbois  said 
that  the  prospects  were  very  poor  indeed,  for  the  price 
of  fur  was  very  low  and  no  prospect  of  a  better  mar- 
ket. So  we  left  our  traps  still  on  storage  at  his  place 
and  went  back  again.  This  was  in  1847,  and  before 
Spring  the  war  was  being  pushed  in  Mexico.  I  tried 
to  enlist  for  this  service,  but  there  were  so  many  ahead 
of  me  I  could  not  get  a  chance. 

I  still  worked  in  the  settlement  and  made  a  living, 
but  had  no  chance  to  improve  my  land.  The  next 
winter  I  lived  with  Mr  A.  Bennett,  hunted  deer  and 
sold  them  at  Mineral  Point,  and  in  this  way  made  and 
saved  a  few  dollars. 

There  had  been  from  time  to  time  rumors  of  a  better 
country  to  the  west  of  us  and  a  sort  of  a  pioneer,  or 
western  fever  would  break  out  among  the  people  oc- 
casionally. Thus  in  1845  I  had  a  slight  touch  of  the 
disease  on  account  of  the  stories  they  told  us  about  Or- 
egon. It  was  reported  that  the  Cioverment  would  give 
JSL   man   a   good  farm  if  he  would  go   and  settle,    and 


DEATH  \' ALLEY.  59 

make  some  specified  improvement.  They  said  it  was 
in  a  territory  of  rich  soil,  with  plenty  of  timber,  fish 
and  game  and  seme  Indians,  just  to  give  a  little  spice 
of  adventure  to  the  whole  thing.  The  climate  was 
very  mild  in  winter,  as  they  reported,  and  I  concluded 
it  would  suit  me  exactly.  I  began  at  once  to  think 
about  an  outfit  and  a  journey,  and  I  found  that  it 
would  take  me  at  least  two  years  to  get  ready.  A  trip 
to  California  was  not  thought  of  in  those  days,  for  it 
did  not  belong  to  the  United  vStates. 

In  the  winter  of  184.S-49  news  began  to  come  that 
there  was  gold  in  California,  but  not  generally  believed 
till  it  came  through  a  V.  .S.  officer,  and  then,  as  the 
people  were  u.sed  to  mines  and  mining,  a  regular  gold 
fever  spread  as  if  by  swift  contagion.  Mr.  Bennett 
was  aroused  and  .sold  his  farm,  and  1  felt  a  change  in 
my  Oregon  desires  and  had  dreams  at  might  of  dig- 
ging u})  the  yellow  du.st.  Nothing  would  cure  us 
then  but  a  trij),  and  that  was  quickly  decided  (m. 

As  it  would  be  some  weeks  yet  before  grass  would 
start,  I  concluded  to  haul  my  canoe  and  a  few  traps 
over  to  a  branch  of  the  Wisconsin,  and  make  my  way 
to  Prairie  du  Chien,  do  a  little  trapping,  get  me  an  In- 
dian pony  on  which  to  ride  to  California.  There  were 
no  ponies  to  be  had  at  Mineral  Point,  (jetting  a  ride 
up  the  river  on  a  passing  steaml)oat  I  reached  Prairie 
La  Cro.sse,  where  the  only  house  was  that  of  a  Dutch 
trader  from  whom  I  bought  a  Winnebago  pony,  which 
he  had  wintered  on  a  little  brushy  island,  and  I 
thought  if  he  could  winter  on  brush  and  rushes  he 
must  be  tough  enough  to  take  me  across  the  plains. 
He  cost  me  $30,  and  I  found  him  to  be  a  poor,  lazy 
little  fellow.  However,  I  thought  that  when  he  got 
some  good  grass,  and  a  little  fat  on  his  ribs  he  might 
have  more  life,  and  so  I  hitched  a  rope  to  him  and 
drove  him  ahead    down  the  river.      When    I    came    to 


6o  DEATH  VALLEY. 

the  Bad  Axe  river  I  found  it  swimming-  full,  but  had 
no  trouble  in  crossing,  as  the  pony  was  as  good  as  a 
dog  in  the  water. 

Before  leaving  Bennett's  I  had  my  gun  altered  over 
to  a  pill  lock  and  secured  ammunition  to  last  for  two 
vears.  I  had  tanned  some  nice  buckskin  and  had  a 
good  outfit  of  clothes  made  of  it,  or  rather  cut  and 
made  it  myself.  Where  I  crossed  the  Bad  Axe  was  a 
the  battle  ground  where  Gen.  Dodge  fought  the  Win- 
nebago Indians.  At  Prairie  du  Chien  I  found  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Bennett,  saying  that  the  gra.ss  was  so  back- 
ward he  would  not  start  up  for  two  or  three  weeks, 
and  I  had  better  come  back  and  start  with  them ;  but 
as  the  letter  bore  no  date  I  could  only  guess  at  the  ex- 
act time.  I  had  intended  to  strike  directly  west  from 
here  to  Council  Bluffs  and  meet  them  there,  but  now 
h  ought  perhaps  I  had  better  go  back  to  Mineral  Point 
and  start  out  with  them  there,  or  follow  on  rapidly 
after  them  if  by  any  chance  they  had  already  started. 

On  my  way  back  I  found  the  Kickapoo  river  too 
high  to  ford,  so  I  pulled  .some  ba.sswood  ba'-k  and 
made  a  raft  of  a  couple  of  logs,  on  which  to  carry  my 
gun  and  blanket;  .starting  the  pony  acrosr,  I  followed 
after.  He  swam  acro.ss  quickly,  but  did  not  seem  to 
like  it  on  the  other  side,  so  before  I  got  across,  back 
he  came  again,  not  paying  the  least  attention  to  my 
scolding.  I  went  back  with  the  raft,  which  drifted  a 
good  way  down  stream,  and  caught  the  rascal  and 
started  him  over  again,  but  when  I  got  half  wa}- 
across  he  jumped  and  played  the  .same  joke  on  me 
again.  I  began  to  think  of  the  old  puzzle  of  the  story 
of  the  man  with  the  fox,  the  goose  and  a  peck  of  corn, 
but  I  solved  it  by  making  a  basswood  rope  to  which  I 
tied  a  stone  and  threw  across,  then  sending  the  pony 
over  with  the  other  end.  He  staid  this  time,  and  af- 
ter three  days  of  .swimming  streams  and  prett}-    hard 


DEx\TH  \'ALIvKV.  6i 

travel  reached  Mineral  Point,  to  find  Bennett  had  been 
gone  two  weeks  and  had  taken  my  ontfit  with  hitn  as 
we  first  planned. 

I  was  a  little  troubled,  but  set  out  light  loaded  for 
Uubuque,  crossed  the  river  there  and  then  alone  across 
Iowa,  over  wet  and  muddy  roads,  till  I  fell  in  with 
some  wagons  we?t  of  the  Uesmoines  River.  They 
were  from  Milwaukee,  ownei  by  a  Mr.  BloAgett,  and 
I  camped  with  them  a  few  nights,  till  we  got  to  the 
Missouri  River. 

I  rushed  ahead  the  last  day  or  two  and  got  there 
before  them.  There  were  a  few  California  wagons 
here,  and  some  campers,  so  I  put  my  pony  out  to 
grass  and  looked  around.  I  waded  across  the  low 
bottom  to  a  strip  of  dry  land  next  to  the  river,  w^here 
there  was  a  post  office,  store,  and  a  few  cabins.  I 
looked  first  for  a  letter,  but  there  w^as  none.  Then  I 
began  to  look  over  the  cards  in  the  trading  places  and 
saloons,  and  read  the  names  written  on  the  logs  of  the 
houses,  and  everywhere  I  thought  there  might  be  a 
trace  of  the  friends  I  sought.  No  one  had  seen  or 
knew  them.  After  looking  half  a  day  I  waded  back 
again  to  the  pony — pretty  ])lue.  1  thought  first  I 
would  go  l)ack  and  wait  another  year,  ])ut  there  was  a 
small  train  near  where  I  left  the  pony,  and  it  was  not 
considered  very  safe  to  go  beyond  there  exce],)t  with  a 
pretty  good  train.  T  sat  down  in  camp  and  turned  the 
matter  over  in  my  mind,  and  talked  with  Chas.  Dallas 
of  Lynn,  Iowa,  who  owned  the  train.  Bennett  had 
my  outfit  and  gun,  while  I  had  his  light  gun,  a  small, 
light  tent,  a  frying  pan,  a  tin  cup,  one  woolen  shirt 
and  the  clothes  on  my  back.  Having  no  money  to 
get  another  outfit,  I  about  concluded  to  turn  back 
when  Dallas  .said  that  if  I  would  drive  one  of  his  teams 
through,  he  would  board  me,  and  I  could  turn  my 
pony  in  with  his  loose  horses;   I  thought  it   over,  and 


62  DEATH  VALLEY. 

finally  put  my  things  in  the  wagon  and  took  the  ox 
whip  to  go  on.  Dallas  intended  to  get  provision  here, 
but  could  not,  so  we  went  down  to  vSt.  Jo,  following 
the  river  near  the  bluff.  We  camped  near  town  and 
walked  in,  finding  a  small  train  on  the  main  emigrant 
road  to  the  west.  My  team  was  one  yoke  of  oxen  and 
one  yoke  of  cows.  I  knew  how  to  drive,  but  had  a 
little  trouble  with  the  strange  animals  till  they  found 
I  was  kind  to  them,  and  then  they  were  all  right. 

This  was  in  a  slave  state,  and  here  I  saw  the  first 
negro  auction.  One  side  of  the  street  had  a  platform 
such  as  we  build  for  a  political  speaker.  The  auc- 
tioneer mounted  this  with  a  black  boy  about  18  years 
old,  and  after  he  had  told  all  his  good  equalities  and 
had  the  boy  stand  up  bold  and  straight,  he  called  for 
bids,  and  they  started  him  at '^500.  He  rattled  away 
as  if  he  were  selling  a  steer,  and  when  Mr.  Rubi- 
deaux,  the  founder  of  St.  Jo  bid  ij^Hoo,  he  went  n 
higher  and  the  boy  was  sold.  With  my  New  England 
notions  it  made  quite  an  impression  on  me. 

Here  Dallas  got  his  supplies,  and  when  the  flour 
and  bacon  was  loaded  up  the  ferryman  wanted  $30  to 
take  the  train  across.  This  Dallas  thought  too  high 
and  went  back  up  the  river  a  day's  drive,  wheie  he 
got  across  for  $30.  From  this  cro.ssing  we  went  across 
the  country  without  much  of  a  road  till  we  struck  the 
road  from  St.  Jo,  and  were  soon  on  the  Platte  bottom. 

We  found  some  fine  strawberries  atone  of  the  camps 
acro.ss  the  country.  We  found  some  hills,  but  now 
the  country  was  all  one  vast  prairie,  not  a  tree  in  sight 
till  we  reached  the  Platte,  there  .some  cottonw^ood  and 
willow.  At  the  first  camp  on  the  Platte  I  rolled  up 
in  my  blanket  under  the  wagon  and  thought  more 
than  I  slept,  but  I  was  in  for  it  and  no  other  way  but 
to  go  on.  I  had  heard  that  there  were  two  forts,  new 
Ft.  Kearny  and  P't.  Laramie,   on  the  south  side  of  the 


DEATH  VALI.KV.  63 

river,  which  we  must  wass  before  we  reached  the 
South  Pass  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  beyond  there 
there  would  be  no  place  to  buy  medicine  or  food.  Our 
little  train  of  five  wagons,  ten  men,  one  woman  and 
three  children  would  not  be  a  formidable  force  against 
the  indians  if  they  were  disposed  to  molest  us,  and  it 
looked  to  me  very  hazardous,  and  that  a  larger  train 
-would  be  more  safe,  for  Government  troops  were  sel- 
dom molested  on  their  marches. 

If  I  should  not  please  Mr.  Dallas  and  get  turned  off 
with  only  my  gun  and  pony  I  should  be  in  a  pretty 
bad  shape,  but  I  decided  to  keep  right  on  and  take 
the  chances  on  the  savages,  who  would  get  only  my 
hair  and  my  gun  as  my  contribution  to  them  if  they 
should  be  hostile.  I  must  confess,  however,  that  the 
trail  ahead  did  not  look  either  straight  or  bright  to  me, 
but  hoped  it  might  be  better  than  I  thougnt.  vSo  I 
yoked  my  oxen  and  cows  to  the  wagon  and  drove  on. 
All  the  other  teams  had  two  drivers  each,  who  took 
turns,  and  thus  had  every  other  day  off  for  hunting  if 
they  chose,  but  I  had  to  carry  the  whip  ever>-  day  and 
leave  my  gun  in  the  wagon. 

When  we  crossed  Salt  Creek  the  ])anks  were  high 
and  we  had  to  tie  a  strong  rope  to  the  wagons  and 
with  a  few  turns  around  a  post,  lower  them  down  eas- 
ily, while  we  had-  to  doul)le  the  teams  to  get  them  up 
the  other  side. 

Night  came  on  before  half  the  wagons  were  over, 
and  though  it  did  not  rain  the  water  rose  before  morn  ■ 
ing  so  it  was  ten  feet  deep.  We  made  a  boat  of  one  ot 
the  wagon  beds,  and  had  a  regular  ferry,  and  when 
they  pulled  the  wagons  over  they  sank  below  the  sur- 
face but  came  out  all  right.  We  came  to  Pawnee  \'il- 
lage,  on  the  Platte,  a  collection  of  nuid  huts,  oval  in 
shape,  and  an  entrance  low  down  to  crawl  in  at.  A 
ground  owl  and  some  prairie  dogs  were  in  one  ot  them, 


64  DEATH  \\\I.LEY. 

and  we  suspected  they    might  be    winter  quarters    for 
the  Indians. 

Dallas  and  his  family  rode  in  the  two-horse  wagon, 
Dick  Field  was  cook,  and  the  rest  of  us  drove  the 
oxen.  We  put  out  a  small  guard  at  night  to  watch 
for  Indians  and  keep  the  stock  together  so  there  might 
be  no  delay  in  searching  for  them.  When  several 
miles  from  Ft.  Kearney  I  think  on  July  3rd,  we 
camped  near  the  river  where  there  was  a  slough  and 
much  Cottonwood  and  willow.  Just  after  sundown  a 
horse  came  galloping  from  the  west  and  went  in  with 
our  horses  that  were  feeding  a  little  farther  down.  In 
the  morning  two  soldiers  came  from  the  fort,  inquiring- 
after  the  stray  horse,  but  Dallas  said  he  had  seen  none, 
and  they  did  not  hunt  around  among  the  willows  for 
the  lost  animal.  Probably  it  would  be  the  easiest  way 
to  report  back  to  the  fort — "Indians  got  him. ' '  When 
we  hitched  up  in  the  morning  he  put  the  hor.se  on  the 
offside  of  his  own,  and  when  near  the  fort,  he  went 
ahead  on  foot  and  entertained  the  officers  while  the 
men  drove  by,  and  the  horse  was  not  discovered.  I 
did  not  like  this  much,  for  if  we  were  discovered,  we 
might  be  roughly  handled,  and  perhaps  the  property 
of  the  innocent  even  confiscated.  Really  my  New 
England  ideas  of  honesty  were  somewhat  shocked. 

Reaching  the  South  Platte,  it  took  us  all  day  to  ford 
the  sandy  stream,  as  we  had  first  to  sound  out  a  good 
crossing  by  wading  through  ourselves,  and  when  we 
started  our  teams  across  we  dare  not  stop  a  moment 
for  fear  the  wagons  would  sink  deep  into  the  quick- 
sands. We  •  had  no  mishaps  in  crossing,  and  when 
well  camped  on  the  other  side  a  solitary  buffalo  made 
his  appearance  about  200  yards  away  and  all  hand.s 
started  after  him,  some  on  foot.  The  horsemen  .soon 
got  ahead  of  him,  but  he  did  not  seem  inclined  to  get 
out  of  their  way.  so  they  opened  fire  on  him.     He  .still 


DEATH  VALLEY.  65 

kept  hi  feet  and  they  wentnearer,  Mr.  Rog-ers,  being 
on  a  honse  with  a  blind  bridle,  getting  near  enough  to 
fire  his  Colt's  rev^olver  at  him,  when  he  turned,  and  the 
horse,  being  unable  to  see  the  animal  quick  enough  to 
get  out  of  the  way,  suffered  the  force  of  a  sudden  attack 
of  the  old  fellow's  horns,  and  came  out  wdth  a  gash  in 
his  thigh  six  inches  long,  while  Rogers  went  on  a  fly- 
ing expeditiou  over  the  horse's  head,  and  did  some 
lively  scrambling  when  he  reaced  the  ground.  The  res 
them  woriied  him  along  for  about  half  a  mile,  and 
finally,  after  about  forty  shots  he  lay  down  but  held 
his  head  up  defiantly,  receiving  shot  after  shot  with  an 
angry  shake,  till  a  side  shot  laid  him  out.  This  game 
gave  us  plenty  of  meat,  which  though  tough,  was  a 
pleasant  change  from  bacon.  I  took  no  part  in  this 
battle  except  as  an  observer.  Ou  examination  it  was 
found  that  the  b.alls  hadbeeu  mxny  of  them  stopped  by 
the  matted  hair  about  the  old  fellow's  head  and  none 
of  them  had  reached  the  skull. 

A  few  days  after  this  we  were  stopped  entirely  by  a 
herd  of  buffaloes  crossing  our  road.  They  came  up 
from  the  river  and  were  moving  south.  The  smaller 
animals  seemed  to  be  in  the  lead,  and  the  rear  was 
brought  up  by  the  old  cows  and  the  shaggy.  Inirly 
bulls.  All  were  moving  at  a  smart  trot,  with  tongues 
hanging  out,  and  seemed  to  take  no  notice  of  us, 
though  we  stood  within  a  hundred  yards  of  them.  We 
had  to  stand  by  our  teams  and  stock  to  pre\-ent  a 
.stampede,  for  they  all  seemed  to  have  a  great  wonder, 
and  .somewhat  of  fear  at  their  relatives  of  the  ])lains. 
After  this  we  often  saw  large  drove-;  of  them  in  the 
distance.  Sometimes  we  could  see  what  in  the  distance 
seemed  a  great  patch  of  brush,  but  l)y  watching 
closely  we  could  see  it  was  a  great  drove  of  these  ani- 
mals. Those  who  had  leisure  to  go  up  to  the  bluffs 
often  reported  large  droves  in  sight,      .\ntelopes  were 


66  DEATH  \' ALLEY. 

also  .'-eeii,  Ijut  these  occupied  the  higher  ground,  and 
it  was  ven;-  hard  to  get  near  enough  to  them  to  shoot 
successfully.  Still  we  managed  to  get  a  good  deal  of 
g^ame  which  was  very  acceptable  as  food. 

One  prominent  land  mark  along  the  route  was 
what  they  called  Coiirt  House  Rock,  standing  to  the 
south  from  the  trail  and  much  resembled  an  immense 
square  building,  standing  high  above  surrounding 
country.  The  farther  we  went  on  the  more  plentiful 
became  the  large  game,  and  also  wolves  and  prairie 
dogs,  the  first  of  which  seemed  to  follow  the  buffaloes 
clo.sely. 

About  this  time  we  met  a  odd  looking  train  going 
east,  consisting  of  five  or  six  Mormons  from  Salt  Lake, 
all  mounted  on  small  vSpani.sh  mules.  They  were 
dressed  in  buckskin  and  moca.s.sins,  with  long  spurs 
jingling  at  their  heels,  the  rowels  fully  four  inches 
long,  and  each  one  carried  a  gun,  a  pistol  and  a  big 
knife.  They  were  rough  looking  fellows  with  long, 
matted  hair,  long  beards,  old  slouch  hats  and  a  gen- 
erally back  woods  get-up  air  in  every  way.  They  had 
an  extra  pack  mule,  but  the  baggage  and  provisions 
were  very  light.  I  had  heard  much  about  the  Mor- 
mons, both  at  Xauvoo  and  vSalt  Lake,  and  some  way 
or  other  I  could  not  separate  the  idea  of  horse  thieves 
from  this  party,  and  I  am  sure  I  would  not  like  to 
meet  them  if  I  had  a  desirable  mule  that  they  wanted, 
or  any  money,  or  a  good  looking  wife.  We  talked 
with  them  half  an  hour  or  so  and  then  moved  on. 

We  occasionally  pa.ssed  by  a  grave  along  the  road, 
and  often  a  small  head  board  would  slate  that  the  poor 
unfortunate  had  died  of  cholera.  Many  of  these  had 
been  toni  open  by  wolves  and  the  lilanket  encirling 
the  corpse  partly  pulled  away.  Our  route  led  a  few 
miles  north  of  Chimney  Rock,  standing  on  an  elevated 
point  like  a  tall  column,  .so  perfect  and  regular  on  all 


DKATH  VALLEY.  67 

sides,  that  from  our  point  it  looked  as  if  it  might  be 
the  work  of  the  stone  cutters.  vSome  of  the  party  went 
to  see  it  and  reporte  I  there  was  no  way  to  ascend  it, 
and  that  as  far  as  a  man  could  reach,  the  rocks  were 
inscribed  with  the  names  of  visitors  and  travelers  who 
passed  that  way. 

At  vScott's  Bluffs,  the  bluffs  came  clo.se  to  the  river, 
so  there  was  considerable  hill  climbing  to  get  along, 
the  road  in  other  places  finding  ample  room  in  the  bot- 
tom. Here  we  found  a  large  camp  of  the  vSioux  In- 
dians on  the  bank  of  a  ravine,  on  both  sides  of  which 
were  som  •  large  cottonwood  trees.  Away  up  in  the 
large  limbs  platforms  had  been  made  of  poles,  on 
which  were  laid  the  bodies  of  their  dead,  wrapped  in 
blankets  and  fa!-tened  down  to  the  platform  by  a  sort 
of  a  network  of  smaller  poles  tightly  lashed  so  that 
they  could  not  be  dragged  away  or  disturbed  by  wild 
animals.  This  seemed  a  strange  .sort  of  cemetery,  but 
when  we  saw  the  desecrated  earth-made  graves  we 
felt  that  ])erha])s  this  was  the  best  way,  even  if  it  was 
a  savage  custom. 

These  Indians  were  fair-sized  men,  and  ])retty  good 
looking  for  red  men.  vSome  of  our  men  went  over  to 
their  camp,  and  .some  of  their  youths  came  down  to 
ours,  and  when  we  started  on  they  seemed  (juite 
proud  that  they  had  learned  a  little  of  the  English  lan- 
guage, but  the  extent  of  their  knowledge  seemed  to 
be  a  little  learned  of  the  o.K-drivers,  for  they  would 
swing  their  hands  at  the  cattle  and  cry  out  "Whoa I 
haw,  g — d  d — n."  Whether  they  knew  what  was 
meant,  I  have  my  doubts.  They  .seemed  pretty  well 
provided  for  and  begged  very  little,  as  they  are  apt  to 
do  when  they  are  hard  j^res.sed. 

We  saw  also  .some  bands  of  Pawnee  Indians  on  the 
move  acro.ss  the  prairies.  They  would  hitch  a  long, 
light  pole   on  each  side  of  a  pony,  with  the  ends  drag- 


68  DEATH  YAhh^W 

ging  behind  on  the  ground,  and  on  a  little  platform  at 
the  hind  end  the  children  sat  and  were  dragged  along. 

As  we  passed  on  beyond  Scott's  Bluff  the  game  be- 
gan to  be  preceptibh'  scarcer,  and  what  we  did  find 
was  back  from  the  traveled  road,  from  which  it  had 
apparently  been  driven  by  the  passing  hunters. 

In  time  we  reached  Ft.  Laramie,  a  trading  post, 
where  there  were  .some  Indian  lodges,  and  we  noticed 
that  some  of  the  occupants  had  lighter  complexions 
than  any  of  the  other  Indians  we  had  seen.  The}"  had 
cords  of  dried  buffalo  meat,  and  we  purcha.sed  some. 
It  was  very  fat,  but  was  so  perfectly  cured  that  the 
clear  tallow  tasted  as  sweet  as  a  nut.  I  thought  it  was 
the  best  dried  meat  I  had  ever  tasted,  but  perhaps  a 
good  appetite  had  something  to  do  with  it. 

As  we  passed  Ft.  Laramie  we  fell  in  company  with 
some  U.  vS.  soldiers  who  were  going  to  Ft.  Hall  and 
thence  to  Oregon.  We  considered  them  pretty  safe  to 
travel  with  and  kept  with  them  for  some  time,  though 
their  rate  of  travel  was  less  than  ours.  Among  them 
were  some  Mormons,  employed  as  teamsters,  and  in 
other  ways,  and  they  told  us  there  were  some 
Missourians  on  the  road  who  would  never  live  to  see 
California.  There  had  been  some  contests  between  the 
Missourians  and  the  Mormons,  and  I  felt  rather  glad 
that  none  of  us  hailed  from  Pike  county. 

We  turned  into  what  they  called  the  Black  Hills, 
leaving  the  Platte  to  the  north  of  us.  The  first  night 
on  this  road  we  had  the  hardest  rain  I  ever  experi- 
enced, and  the  only  one  of  any  account  on  our  jour- 
ney. Our  camp  was  on  a  level  piece  of  ground  on  the 
bank  of  a  dry  creek,  which  soon  became  a  verv  wet 
creek  indeed,  for  by  morning  it  was  one  hundred 
yards  wide  and  absolutely  impassible.  It  went  down, 
however,  as  quickly  as  it  rose,  and  by  ten  o'clock  it 
was   so  low    that  we   easilv  crossed   and  went  on  our 


DEATH  VALLEY.  69 

way.  We  crossed  one  stream  where  there  were  great 
drifts  or  piles  of  hail  which  had  been  brought  down  by 
a  heavy  storm  from  higher  up  the  hills.  At  one  place 
we  found  some  rounded  boulders  from  six  to  eight 
'.nches  in  diameter,  which  were  partly  hollow,  and 
broken  open  were  found  to  contain  most  beautiful 
crystals  of  quartz,  clear  as  purest  ice.  The  inside  was. 
certainly  very  pretty,  and  it  was  a  mystery  how  it 
came  there.  I  have  since  learned  that  such  stones  are 
found  at  many  points,  and  that  they  are  called  geodes. 

We  came  out  at  the  river  again  at  the  mouth  of 
Deer  Creek,  and  as  there  was  some  pretty  good  coal 
there  quite  easy  to  get,  we  made  camp  one  day  to  try 
to  tighten  our  wagon  tires,  John  Rogers  acting  as 
blacksmith.  This  was  my  first  chance  to  reconoitre, 
and  so  I  took  my  gun  and  went  up  the  creek,  a  wide, 
treeless  bottom.  In  the  ravines  on  the  south  side  were 
beautiful  groves  of  small  fir  trees  and  some  thick 
brush,  wild  rose  bushes  I  think.  I  found  here  a  good 
inany  heads  and  horns  of  elk,  and  1  could  not  decide 
whether  they  had  been  killed  in  winter  during  the 
deep  snow,  or  had  starved  to  death. 

There  was  a  ferry  here  to  cross  the  river  and  go  up 
along  north  side.  Mr.  Dallas  bought  the  whole  outfit 
for  a  small  sum  and  when  we  were  safely  over  he  took 
with  him  such  ropes  as  he  wanted  and  tied  the  boat  to 
the  bank  The  road  on  this  side  was  very  sandy  and 
led  over  and  among  some  rolling  hills.  In  talking 
with  the  men  of  the  V.  S.  troops  in  whose  company 
we  still  were,  I  gathered  much  information  concerning 
our  road  further  west.  They  said  we  were  entirely 
too  late  to  get  through  to  California,  on  account  ot 
crossing  the  vSierra  Nevada  mountains,  which,  tlic\ 
said  would  be  covered  with  snow  by  November,  or 
even  earlier,  and  that  we  would  be  compelled  to  win- 
ter at  Salt  Lake.     vSome  of  the  drivers  overheard    Mr. 


70  DEATH  VALLEY. 

Dallas  telling  his  family  the  same  thing',  and  that  if  he 
should  winter  at  vSalt  Lake,  he  would  discharge  his 
drivers  as  soon  as  he  arrived,  as  he  could  not  afford  to 
iboard  then;  all  winter. 

This  was  bad  news  for  me,  for  I  had  known  of  the 
history  of  them  at  Nauvoo  and  in  Missouri,  and  the 
prospect  of  being  thrown  among  them  with  no  money 
to  buy  bread  was  a  very  sorry  prospect  for  me.  From 
all  I  could  learn  we  could  not  get  a  chance  to  work, 
•even  for  our  board  there,  and  the  other  drivers  shared 
my  fears  and  disappointment  In  this  dilemma  we 
■called  a  council,  and  invited  the  gentleman  in  to  have 
an  understanding.  He  came  and  our  spokesman! 
■stated  the  case  to  him,  and  our  fears,  and  asked  him 
what  he  had  to  say  to  us  about  it.  He  flew  quite  au- 
gry  at  us,  and  talked  some  and  swore  a  great  deal 
more,  and  the  l)urden  of  his  speech  was: — "This  train 
ibelongs  to  me  and  I  propose  to  do  with  it  just  as  I 
have  a  mind  to,  and  I  don't  care  a  d — n  what  you  fel- 
lows do  or  say.  I  am  not  going  to  board  you  fellows 
all  winter  for  nothing,  and  when  we  get  to  Salt  Lake 
yoii  can  go  where  you  please,  for  1  shall  not  want  you 
any  longer.  "  We  talked  a  little  to  him  and  under  the 
circumstances  to  talk  -was  about  all  we  could  do.  He 
gave  us  no  satisfaction  and  left  us  apparently  much 
offended  that  we  had  any  care  for  ourselves. 

Then  we  had  .some  talk  among  ourselves,  at  the 
time,  and  from  day  to  da>-  as  we  mo\-ed  along.  We 
began  to  think  that  the  only  way  to  get  along  at  all  in 
vSalt  Lake  would  be  to  turn  Mormons,  and  none  of  us 
ihad  any  belief  or  desire  that  Avay  and  could  not  make 
lip  our  minds  to  stop  our  journey  and  lose  so  much 
time,  and  if  we  were  not  very  favored  travelers  our 
Hot  might  be  cast  among  the  .sinners  for  all  time. 

We  were  now  on  the  Sweetwater  River,  and  began 
±o  see  the  snow  on  the  Rockv  Moiuatains  ahead  of  us, 


DEATH  VALLEY.  yr 

another  reminder  that  there  was  a  winter  coming-  and 
only  a  little  more  than  half  our  jonrney  was  done.  We 
did  not  feel  very  happy  over  it,  and  yet  we  had  to 
laugh  once  in  a  while  at  some  ot  the  iunn\-  thing.s  that 
would  happen. 

The  Cjoveniment  party  we  were  with  had  among 
them  a  German  mule  driver  who  had  a  deal  of 
trouble  with  his  team,  but  who  had  a  very  lit- 
tle knowledge  of  the  English  language.  When  the- 
officers  tried  to  instruct  him  a  little  he  seemed  to  get 
out  of  patience  and  would  say  something  very  like 
SaciaiNt'/itiK  We  did  not  know  exactly  what  this 
meant.  \\"e  had  heard  there  was  a  river  of  that  name 
or  something  very  near  like  that;  and  then  again  some 
said  that  was  the  Dutch  for  swearing.  If  this  latter 
was  the  truth  then  lie  was  a  very  protane  miile  driver 
when  he  got  mad. 

The  Captain  of  the  company  had  a  very  nice  looking 
lady  with  him,  and  they  carried  a  fine  wall  tent  which 
they  occupied  when  they  went  into  camp.  The  com- 
pany cook  served  their  meals  to  them  in  the  privacy 
of  their  tent,  and  they  seemed  to  enjo\-  themselves 
very  nicely.  Everybody  though  the  Ca])tain  was  very 
lucky  in  having  such  an  accomplished  companion, 
and  journey  along  (piietly  to  the  gold  fields  at  govern- 
ment e.Kpense. 

There  seemed  to  l>e  just  a  little  jealousy  between 
the  Captain  and  the  Lieutenant,  and  one  day  I  saw 
them  both  standing  in  angry  attitude  l)efore  tlie  Cap- 
tain's quarters,  l>oth  mounted,  with  their  carl)ines 
lying  across  their  saddles  before  them.  They  had 
.some  pretty  sharp,  hot  words,  and  it  looked  as  if  they 
both  were  pretty  nearly  warmed  up  to  the  shooting- 
point.  Once  the  Lieutenant  moved  his  right  hand  a 
little,  and  the  Captain  was  quick  to  see  it.  shouting; 
— "Let  your  gun  alone  or  I  will  make  a  hole  through 


72  DEATH  VALLEY. 

vou, ' '  at  the  same  time  grasping  his  own  and  pointing 
it  straight  at  the  other  officer.  During  all  this  time 
the  Captain's  lad}-  stood  in  the  tent  door,  and  when 
.she  saw  her  favorite  had  the  drop  on  the  Lieutenant 
she  clapped  her  delicate,  little  hands  in  a  gleeful  man- 
ner:—  "Just  look  at  the  Captain!  Ain't  he  spunky?" 
and  then  she  laughed  long  and  loud  to  see  her  lord 
show  so  much  military  courage.  She  seemed  more 
pleased  at  the  affair  than  any  one  else.  1  don't  know 
•exactly  what  the  others  thought,  but  I  never  could  be- 
lieve that  the  lady  and  the  Captain  were  ever  married. 

The  Lieutenant  was  no  coward,  but  probably  think- 
ing that  prudence  was  the  better  part  of  valor,  re- 
frained from  handling  his  gun,  and  the  two  soon  rode 
away  in  opposite  directions. 

We  passed  a  lone  rock  standing  in  the  river  bottom 
on  the  Sweetwater,  w^hich  they  named  Independence 
Rock.  It  was  covered  with  the  names  of  thousands  of 
people  who  had  gone  by  on  that  road.  Some  were 
pretty  neatly  chiseled  in,  some  very  rudely  scrawled, 
and  some  put  on  with  paint.  I  spent  all  the  time  I 
could  hunting  Mr.  Bennett's  name,  but  I  could  not 
find  it  anywhere.  To  have  found  his  name,  and  thus 
to  know  that  he  had  safely  passed  this  point  would 
have  been  a  little  re-assuring  in  those  rather  doubtful 
days.  Some  had  named  the  date  of  their  passing,  and 
some  of  them  were  probably  pretty  near  the  gold 
fields  at  this  time. 

All  along  in  this  section  we  found  alkali  water  near 
the  road,  some  very  strong  and  dangerous  for  man  or 
beast  to  use.  "  We  traveled  on  up  the  Sweetwater  for 
some  time,  and  at  last  came  to  a  place  where  the  road 
left  the  river,  and  we  had  a  a  long,  hard  hill  to  pull 
up.  When  w^e  reached  the  top  of  this  w^e  were  in  the 
South  Pass  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  backbone  of 
the    American    continent.     To  the  north   of  us  were 


DEATH  VALLKV.  73 

some  very  high  peaks  white  with  snow,  and  to  the 
south  were  some  lower  hills  and  valleys.  The  sum- 
mit of  the  mountains  was  not  quite  as  imposing  as  I 
expected,  but  it  was  the  summit,  and  we  were  soon 
surely  moving  down  the  western  side,  for  at  Pacific 
Springs  the  water  ran  to  the  westward,  toward  the 
Pacific  coast.  The  next  day  we  came  to  the  nearly 
dry  bed  of  the  river — the  Big  Sandy.  The  country 
round  about  seemed  volcanic,  with  no  timber,  but 
plenty  of  sage  brush,  in  which  we  were  able  to  shoot 
an  occasional  sage  hen.  The  river  bed  itself  was  no- 
thing but  sand,  and  where  there  was  water  enough  to 
wet  it,  it  was  very  miry  and  hard  traveling  over  it. 
There  are  two  streams,  the  Big  Sandy  and  Little 
Sandy,  both  tributaries  to  (rreen  River,  which  we 
soon  reached  and  cros.sed. 

It  was  a  remarkable  clear  and  rapid  stream  and  was 
now  low  enough  to  ford.  One  of  the  Government 
teams  .set  out  to  make  the  crossing  at  a  point  where  it 
looked  .shallow  enough,  but  before  the  lead  mules 
reached  the  opposite  .shore,  they  lost  their  footing  and 
were  forced  to  swim.  Ofcour.se  the  wagon  stopped 
and  the  team  swung  round  and  tangled  up  in  a  bad 
.shape.  They  were  unhitched  and  the  wagon  pulled 
back,  the  load  was  somewhat  dampened,  for  the  water 
came  into  the  w^agon  box  about  a  foot.  We  camped 
here  and  laid  by  one  day,  having  thus  quite  a  little 
chance  to  look  around. 

When  we  came  to  the  first  water  that  flowed  toward 
the  Pacific  Coast  at  Pacific  Springs,  we  drivers  had 
quite  a  little  talk  about  a  new  scheme.  We  put  a 
great  many  "ifs"  together  and  thev  amounted  to 
about  this: — If  this  .stream  were  large  enoug.i;  if  we 
had  a  boat;  if  we  knew  the  way:  if  there  were  no  falls 
or  bad  places;  if  we  had  plenty  of  provisions;  if  we 
were   bold   enough    set  out  on    such  a    trip,   etc.,   we 


74  DEATH  VALLEY. 

might  come  out  at  some  point  or  other  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  And  now  when  we  came  to  the  first  of  the 
"ifs, "  a  stream  large  enough  to  float  a  small  boat;  we 
began  to  think  more  strongly  about  the  other  "ifs". 

In  the  course  of  our  rambles  we  actually  did  run 
across  the  second  "if"  in  the  shape  of  a  small  ferry 
boat  filled  up  with  sand  upon  a  bar,  and  it  did  not 
take  very  long  to  dig  it  out  and  put  it  into  shape  to 
use,  for  it  was  just  large  enough  to  hold  one  wagon  at 
a  time'  Our  military  escort  intended  to  leave  us  at 
this  point,  as  their  route  now  bore  off  to  the  north  of 
ours.  I  had  a  long  talk  with  the  surgeon  who  seemed 
well  informed  about  the  country,  and  asked  him  about 
the  prospects.  He  did  not  give  the  Mormons  a  very 
good  name.  He  said  to  me: — "If  you  go  to  Salt  Lake 
City,  do  not  let  them  know  you  are  from  Missouri,  for 
I  tell  you  that  many  of  those  from  that  State  will 
never  see  California.  You  know  they  were  driven 
from  Missouri,  and  will  get  revenge  if  they  can." 
Both  the  surgeon  and  the  captain  said  the  stream 
came  out  on  the  Pacific  Coast'  and  that  we  had  no  ob- 
stacles except  cataracts,  which  they  had  heard  were 
prettv  bad.  I  then  went  to  Dallas  and  told  him  what 
we  proposed  doing  and  to  our  surprise  he  did  not  offer 
any  objections,  and  offered  me  $60  for  my  pony.  He 
said  he  would  sell  us  some  flour  and  bacon  for  provi- 
sions also. 

We  helped  them  in  crossing  the  river,  which  was 
.somewhat  difficult,  being  swift,  with  boulders  in  the 
bottom  but  we  got  all  safely  over  and  then  made  the 
trade  we  had- spoken  of.  Dallas  paid  me  for  my  pony 
and  we  took  what  flour  and  bacon  he  would  let  go. 
He  gave  us  .some  ropes  for  head  and  stern  lines  to  our 
boat  and  a  couple  of  axes,  and  we  laid  the.se,  and  our 
provisions  in  a  pile  by  the  roadside.  vSix  of  us  then 
gave  up  our  whips.     Mr.  S.  McMahon,  a  driver,  hesi- 


DEATH  VALLEY. 


75 


tated  for  some  time,  but  being  pressed  by  Dallas  for  a 
decision,  at  last  threw  down  his  whip  and  said: — "L 
will  go  with  the  boys.  "  This  left  Dallas  with  only  one 
driver,  but  he  took  a  whip  himself,  and  with  the  aid 
of  the  children  and  his  wife  who  drove  the  two-horse 
wagon,  they  got  along  very  weil.  I  paid  for  such 
provisions  as  we  had  taken  ,as  the  rest  of  the  fellows 
had  almost  no  money. 

So  we  parted  company,  the  little  train  slowly  mov- 
ing on  its  way  westward.  Our  military  captain,  the 
soldier  boys,  and  the  gay  young  lady  taking  the  route 
to  Oregon,  and  we  sitting  on  the  bank  of  the  river 
whose  waters  flowed  to  the  great  Pacific.  Each  com- 
pany wished  the  other  good  luck,  we  took  a  few  long 
breaths  and  then  set  to  work  in  earnest  to  carry  out 
our  plans. 


76  DEATH  VALLEY. 


CHAPTER  VHL 

About  the  first  thing  we  did  was  to  organize  and 
select  a  captain,  and,  very  much  against  my  wishes,  I 
was  chosen  to  this  important  position.  Six  of  us  had 
guns  of  some  sort,  Richard  Field,  Dallas's  cook,  was 
not  armed  at  all.  We  had  one  regular  axe  and  a  large 
camp  hatchet,  which  was  about  the  same  as  an  axe, 
and  several  ver}-  small  hatchets  owned  by  the  men. 
All  our  worldly  goods  were  piled  up  en  the  bank,  and 
w^e  were  alone. 

An  examination  of  the  old  ferry  boat  showed  it  to 
be  in  pretty  good  condition,  the  sand  with  which  it 
had  been  filled  keeping  it  very  perfectly.  We  found 
two  oars  in  the  sand  under  the  boat,  and  looked  up 
some  pole.s  to  assist  us  in  navigation.  Our  cordage 
was  rather  scant  but  the  best  we  could  get  and  all  we 
could  muster.  The  boat  was  about  twelve  feet  long 
and  six  or  seven  feet  wide,  not  a  very  well  propor- 
tioned craft,  but  having  the  abilitj'  to  carry  a  pretty 
good  load.  We  swung  it  up  to  the  bank  and  loaded 
up  our  goods  and  then  ourselves.  It  was  not  a  heavy 
load  for  the  craft,  and  it  looked  as  if  we  were  taking 
the  most  sensible  waj'  to  get  to  the  Pacific,  and  almost 
wondered  that  everybody  was  so  blind  as  not  to  see  it 
as  we  did. 

This  party  was  composed  of  W.  L.  Manley,  M.  S 
McMahon,  Charles  and  Joseph  Hazeliig,  Richard 
Field,  Alfred  Walton  and  John  Rogers.  We  untied 
the  ropes,  gave  the  boat  a  push  and  commenced  to 
move  down  the  river  with  ease  and  comfort,  feeling 
much  happier  than  we  would  had  we  been  going 
toward  Salt  Lake  with  the  prospect  of  wintering  there. 

At  the  mouth  of  Hani's  Fork  we  passed    a  camp  of 


DEATH  VALLEY.  77 

Indians,  but  we  kept  close  to  the  opposite  shore  to 
avoid  being  boarded  by  them.  They  beckoned  very 
urgently  for  us  to  come  ashore,  but  I  acted  as  if  I  did 
not  understand  them,  and  gave  them  the  go-by. 

As  we  were  floating  down  the  rapid  stream  it  be- 
came more  and  more  a  rapid,  roaring  river,  and  the 
bed  contained  many  dangerous  rocks  that  were  diffi- 
cult to  shun.  Each  of  us  had  a  setting-pole,  and  we 
ranged  ourselves  along  the  sides  of  the  boat  and  tried 
to  keep  ourselves  clear  from  the  rocks  and  dangers. 
The  water  was  not  very  deep  and  made  such  a  dash- 
ing noise  as  the  current  rushed  among  the  rocks  that 
one  had  to  talk  pretty  loud  to  be  heard.  As  we  were 
gliding  along  quite  swiftly,  I  set  my  pole  on  the  bottom 
and  gave  the  boat  a  sudden  push  to  avoid  a  boulder, 
when  the  pole  stuck  in  the  crevice  between  two  rocks, 
and  instead  of  losing  the  pole  by  the  sudden  jerk  I 
gave,  I  was  the  one  who  was  very  suddenly  yanked 
from  the  boat  by  the  spring  of  the  pole,  and  landed  in 
the  middle  of  the  river.  I  struck  pretty  squai'ely 
on  my  back,  and  so  got  thoroughly  wet,  but  swam  for 
shore  amid  the  shouts  of  the  boys,  who  waved  their 
hats  and  hurrahed  for  the  captain  when  they  saw  he 
was  not  hurt.  I  told  them  that  was  nothing  as  we 
were  on  our  way  to  Califofnia  by  w^ater  any  way,  and 
such  things  mu.st  be  expected. 

The  next  day  after  this  I  went  on  shore  and  sighted 
a  couple  of  antelope,  one  of  which  I  shot,  which  gave 
us  good  grub,  and  good  appetites  we  already  had.  As 
near  as  we  could  estimate  we  floated  about  thirty  miles 
a  day.  which  beat  the  pace  of  tired  oxen  considerably. 
In  one  place  there  was  a  fringe  of  thick  willows  along 
the  bank,  and  a  little  farther  back  a  perpendicular 
bluff",  whiel  between  the  two  was  a  strip  of  fine  green 
grass.  As  we  were  passing  this  we  scared  up  a  band 
of  elk  in  this  grass  meadow,   and  they  all  took  a    run 


78  DEATH  X'ALLEY. 

down  the  river  like  a  band  of  horses.  One  of  them 
turned  up  a  small  ravine  with  walls  so  steep  he  could 
not  get  out,  so  we  posted  a  guard  at  the  entrance,  and 
three  of  us  went  up  the  canon  after  him,  and  after  the 
others  had  each  fired  a  shot,  I  fired  the  third  and 
brought  him  down.  This  was  about  the  finest  piece 
of  Rocky  Mountain  beef  that  one  could  .':ee.  We  took 
the  carcass  on  board  and  floated  on  again. 

Thus  far  we  had  a  very  pleasant  time,  each  taking 
his  turn  in  working  the  boat  while  the  others  rested 
or  slept.  About  the  fifth  day  when  we  were  floating 
along  in  very  gently  running  water,  I  had  lay  down 
to  take  a  rest  and  a  little  sleep.  The  mountains  here 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  were  not  very  steep,  but  ran 
gradually  for  a  mile  or  so.  While  I  was  sleeping  the 
boat  came  around  a  small  angle  in  the  stream,  and  all 
at  once  there  seemed  to  be  a  higher,  steeper  range  of 
mountains  right  across  the  valley.  The  boys  thought 
the  river  was  coming  to  a  rather  sudden  end  and 
hastily  awoke  me,  and  for  the  life  of  me  I  could  not 
say  they  were  not  right,  for  there  was  no  way  in  sight 
for  it  to  go  to.  I  remembered  while  looking  over  a 
map  the  military  men  had  I  found  a  place  named 
Brown's  Hole,  and  I  told  the  boys  I  guessed  we  were 
elected  to  go  on  foot  to  California  after  all,  for  I  did 
not  propose  to  follow  the  river  down  any  sort  of  a  hole 
into  any  mountain.  We  were  floating  directly  toward 
a  perpendicular  cliff,  and  I  could  not  see  any  hole  any 
where,  nor  any  other  place  where  it  could  go.  Just 
as  we  were  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  cliff,  the  river 
turned  sharply  to  the  right  and  went  behind  a  high 
point  of  the  mountain  that  seemed  to  stand  squarely 
on  edge.  This  was  really  an  immense  crack  or  crev- 
ice, certainly  2000  feet  deep  and  perhaps  much  more, 
and  seemed  much  wider  at  the  bottom  than  it  did  at 
the  top,  2000  feet  or  more  above  our  heads.    Each  wall 


DEATH  \'ALLEY.  79 

.seemed  to  lean  in  toward  the  water  as  it  rose. 

We  were  now  for  some  time  between  two  rock\' 
walls  between  which  the  river  ran  very  rapidly,  and 
we  often  had  to  get  out  and  work  our  boat  over  the 
rocks,  sometimes  lifting  it  off  when  it  caught.  For- 
tunately we  had  a  good  tow  line,  and  one  would  take 
this  and  follow  along  the  edge  when  it  was  so  he 
could  walk.  The  mountains  seemed  to  get  higher  and 
higher  on  both  sides  as  we  advanced,  and  in  places  we 
could  see  quite  a  number  of  trees  overhanging  the 
river,  and  away  up  on  the  rocks  we  could  see  the  wild 
mountain  sheep  looking  down  at  us.  They  were  so 
high  that  they  seemed  a  mile  away,  and  consequently 
safe  enough.  This  was  their  home,  and  -they  seemed 
very  independent,  as  if  they  dared  us  fellows  to  come 
and  see  them.  There  was  an  old  cotton  wood  tree  on 
bank  with  marks  of  an  axe  on  it,  but  this  was  all  the 
sign  we  saw  that  an\-  one  had  ever  been  here  before 
us.  We  got  no  game  while  passing  through  this  deep 
caiion  and  began  to  feel  the  need  of  some  fresh  provi- 
sions very  sorely. 

We  passed  many  deep,  dark  canons  coming  into  the 
main  stream,  and  at  one  place,  w^here  the  rock  hung 
a  little  over  the  river  and  had  a  smooth  wall,  I 
climbed  u])  above  the  high  water  mark  which  we 
could  clearly  see,  and  with  a  mixture  of  gunpowder 
and  grease  for  paint,  and  a  bit  of  cloth  tied  to  a  stick 
for  a  brush,  I  painted  in  fair  sized  letters  on  the  rock. 
CAPT.  W.  L.  MANEKV.  V.  S.  A.  We  did  not 
know  whether  we  were  within  the  bounds  of  the 
United  States  or  not,  and  we  put  on  all  the  majesty  we 
could  under  the  circumstances.  I  don't  think  the  sun 
ever  shone  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  canon,  for  the 
sides  were  literally  sky-high,  for  the  sky,  and  a  very 
small  portion  of  that  was  all  we  could  see. 

Just  before  night  wc  came  to  a  place  where  some 


8o  DEATH  VALLEY. 

huge  rocks  as  large  as  cabins  had  fallen  down  from 
the  mountain,  completely  filling  up  the  river  bed,  and 
making  it  completely  impassible  for  our  boat.  We 
unloaded  it  and  while  the  boys  held  the  stem  line,  I 
took  off  my  clothes  and  pushed  the  boat  out  into  the 
torrent  which  ran  around  the  rocks,  letting  them  pay 
the  line  out  slowly  till  it  was  just  right.  Then  I  sang 
out  to — "Let  go" — and  away  it  dashed.  I  grasped 
the  bow  line,  and  at  the  first  chance  jumped  overboad 
and  got  to  shore,  when  I  held  the  boat  and  brought  it 
in  below  the  obstructions.  There  was  some  deep  wa- 
ter below  the  rocks ;  and  we  went  into  camp.  While 
some  loaded  the  boat,  others  with  a  hook  and  line 
caught  some  good  fish,  which  resembled  mackerel. 

While  I  was  looking  up  toward  the  mountain  top, 
and  along  down  the  rocky  wall,  I  saw  a  smooth  place 
about  fifty  feet  above  where  the  great  rocks  had  broken 
out,  and  there,  painted  in  large  black  letters,  were  the 
words  "ASHLEY,  1824.  "  This  was  the  first  real  ev- 
idence we  had  of  the  presence  of  a  white  man  in  this 
wild  place,  and  from  this  record  it  seems  that  tw-enty- 
five  years  before  some  venturesome  man  had  here  in- 
scribed his  name.  I  have  since  heard  there  were  some 
persons  in  St.  Louis  of  this  name,  and  of  some  circum- 
stances which  may  link  them  with  this  early  traveler. 

When  we  came  to  look  around  we  found  that  an- 
other big  rock  blocked  the  channel  300  yards  below% 
and  the  water  rushed  around  it  wath  a  terrible  swirl. 
So  we  unloaded  the  boat  again  and  made  the  attempt 
to  get  around  it  as  we  did  the  other  rocks.  We  tried 
to  get  across  the  river  but.  failed.  We  now%  all  but 
one,  got  on  the  great  rock  with  our  poles,  and  the  one 
man  was  to  ease  the  boat  down  with  the  rope  as  far 
as  he  could,  then  let  go  and  we  would  stop  it  with  our 
poles  and  push  it  out  into  the  stream  and  let  it  go  over, 
but  the    current    was  so   strong  that    when  the    boat 


DEATH  VALLEY.  8i 

struck  the  rock  we  could  not  stop  it,  and  the  gunwale 
next  to  us  rose,  and  the  other  went  down,  so  that  in  a 
second  the  boat  stood  edgewise  in  the  water  and  the 
bottom  tight  against  the  big  rock,  and  the  strong  cur- 
rent pinned  it  there  so  tight  that  we  could  no  more 
move  it  than  we  could  move  the  rock  itself. 

This   seemed  a  very    sudden  ending  to  our  voyage 

and  there  were  some  very  rapid  thoughts  as  to  whether 

we  would  not  safer  among  the  Mormons  than,  out    iu 

this  wild    country,    afoot   and  alone.      Our    boat    was 

surely  lost  be3-ond  hope,  and  something  must  be  done. 

I  saw  two  pine  trees,  about  two  feet  through,  growing 

on  a    level  place  just    below,  and  I    said  to  them    that 

we  must  decide  between  going  afoot  and  making  some 

canoes  out  of  these  pine  trees.     Canoes  were  decided 

on,  and  we    never  let  the  axes  rest,    night  or  day  till 

we   had    them    completed.     While  my  working  shift 

was  off,  I  took  an  hour  or    two,  for  a  little    hunting, 

and  on  a  low    divide  partly    grown    over   with    small 

pines  and  juniper  I  found  signs,  old  and  new,   of  many 

elk,    and  so    concluded  the  counLry  was    well  stocked 

with  noble  game.     The  two  canoes,  when  completed 

were  about  fifteen  feet  long  and  two   feet  wide,    and 

we  lashed  them  together  for  greater  security.      When 

we  tried  them  we  found  they  were  too   small  to  carry 

our  load    and  us,    and  we    landed  half  a  mile    below, 

where  there  were  two  other  jiine  trees — white  pine — 

about  two  feet  through,  and  much  taller  than  the  ones 

we  had  used.      We  set  at  work  making  a  large  canoe 

of  these.      I  had  to  direct  the  work  for  I  was  the  only 

one  who  had  ever  done  such  work.     We  worked  night 

and  day  at  these  canoes,  keeping  a  big    fire    at  night 

and  changing  off  to  keep  the  axes  busy.     This  canoe 

we  made    twenty-five    or  thirty    feet  long,    and  when 

completed   they    made    me    captain   of  it  and  into    it 

loaded  the  most    valuable  things,  such    as  provisions. 


82  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

ammunition,  and  cooking  utensils.  1  had  to  take  the 
lead  for  I  was  the  onl}-  skillful  canoeist  in  the  party. 
We  agreed  upon  signals  to  give  when  danger  was 
seen,  or  game  in  sight,  and  leading  off  with  my  big 
canoe  we  set  sail  again,  and  went  flying  down  stream. 

This  rapid  rate  soon  brought  us  out  of  the  high 
mountains  and  into  a  narrow  valley  when  the  stream 
became  more  moderate  in  its  speed  and  we  floated 
along  easily  enough.  In  a  little  while  after  we  struck 
this  slack  water,  as  we  were  rounding  a  point,  I  saw 
on  a  sand  bar  in  the  river,  five  or  six  elk,  standing 
and  looking  at  lis  with  much  curiosity.  I  signaled  for 
those  behind  to  go  to  shore,  while  I  did  the  same, 
and  two  or  three  of  us  took  our  guns  and  went  carefully 
down  along  the  bank,  the  thick  brush  hiding  us  from 
them,  till  we  were  in  fair  range,  then  selecting  our 
game  we  fired  on  them.  A  fine  doe  fell  on  the  oppo- 
site bank,  and  a  magnificent  buck  which  Rogers  and 
I  selected,  went  below  and  crossed  the  river  on  our 
side.  We  followed  him  down  along  the  bank  which 
was  here  a  flat  meadow  with  thick  bunches  of  willows, 
and  soon  came  pretty  near  to  Mr.  Elk  who  started  off 
on  a  high  and  lofty  trot.  As  he  passed  an  opening  in 
the  biishes  I  put  a  ball  through  his  head  and  he  fell. 
He  was  a  monster.  Rogers,  who  was  a  butcher,  said 
it  would  weigh  five  hundred  or  six  hundred  pounds. 
The  horns  were  fully  six  feet  long,  and  by  placing 
the  horns  on  the  ground,  point  downwards,  one  could 
walk  under  the  skull  between  them.  We  packed  the 
meat  to  our  canoes,  and  staid  up  all  night  cutting  the 
meat  in  strips  and  drying  it,  to  reduce  bulk  and  per- 
serve  it,  and  it  made  the  finest  kind  of  food,  fit  for  an 
epicure. 

Starting  on  again,  the  river  lost  more  and  more  of 
of  its  rapidity  as  it  came  out  into  a  still  wider  valley, 
and   became  quite   sluggish.     We  picked  red  berries 


DEATH  VALLEY.  83 

that  grew  on  bushes  that  overhung  the  water.  They 
were  sour  and  might  have  been  high  cranberries.  One 
day  I  killed  an  otter,  and  afterward  hearing  a  wild 
goose  on  shore,  I  went  for  the  game  and  killed  it  on  a 
small  pond  on  which  there  were  also  some  mallard 
duck.  I  killed  t.vo  of  these.  When  I  fired,  the  ones 
not  killed  did  not  fly  away,  but  rather  swam  toward 
me.  I  suppose  they  never  before  had  seen  a  man  or 
heard  the  report  of  a  gun.  On  the  shore  around  the 
place  I  saw  a  small  bear  track,  but  I  did  not  have  time 
to  look  f)r  his  bearship,  and  left,  with  the  game 
already  killed,  and  passed  on  down  through  this  beau- 
tiful valliiv. 

We  .'aw  one  place  where  a  large  band  of  horses  had 
crossed,  and  as  the  men  with  them  must  have  had  a 
raft,  we  were  pretty  sure  that  the  men  in  charge  of 
them  were  white  men,  Another  day  we  passed  the 
mouth  of  a  swollen  stream  which  came  in  from  the 
west  side.  The  water  was  thick  with  nu;d.  and  the 
fish,  about  a  foot  long,  came  to  the  top,  with  their 
noses  out  of  water.  We  tried  to  catch  some,  but  could 
not  hold  them.  One  night  we  camped  on  an  island, 
and  I  took  my  gun  and  went  over  toward  the  west 
side  where  I  killed  a  deer.  The  boys  hearing  me 
shoot,  came  out,  guns  in  hand,  thinking  I  might  need 
help,  and  I  was  very  glad  of  their  assistance.  To  make 
our  flour  go  as  far  as  possible  we  ate  very  freely  of 
meat,  and  having  excellent  ai)petites  it  disappeared 
very  fa.st. 

It  took  us  two  or  three  days  to  i)ass  this  beautiful 
valley,  and  then  we  began  to  get  into  a  rougher  coun- 
try again,  the  caiions  dee])er  and  the  water  more 
tumultuous.  McMahon  and  1  had  the  lead  always, 
in  the  b'g  canoe.  The  mountains  seemed  to  change 
into  bare  rocks  and  get  higher  and  higher  as  we 
floated  alono-.     After  the  first  dav  of  this  the  river  be- 


84  DEATH  VALLEY. 

came  so  full  of  boulders  that  many  times  the  only  way 
we  could  do  was  to  unload  the  canoes  and  haul  them 
over,  load  up  and  go  ahead,  only  to  repeat  the  same 
tactics  in  a  very  short  time  again.  At  one  place  where 
the  river  was  more  than  usually  obstructed  we  found 
a  deserted  camp,  a  skiff  and  some  heavy  cooking 
utensils,  with  a  notice  posted  up  on  an  alder  tree  say- 
ing that  they  had  found  the  river  route  impracticable, 
and  being  satisfied  that  the  river  was  so  full  of  rocks 
and  boulders  that  it  could  not  be  safely  navigated, 
they  had  abandoned  the  undertaking  and  were  about 
to  start  overland  to  make  their  wa}'  to  Salt  Lake-.  I 
took  down  the  names  of  the  parties  at  the  time  in  my 
diar\-,  which  has  since  been  burned,  but  have  now  for- 
gotten them  entirely.  They  were  all  strangers  to  me. 
They  had  taken  left  such  heavy  articles  as  could  not 
be  carried  on  foot.  This  notice  rather  disconcerted 
us.  but  we  thought  we  had  better  keep  on  and  see  for 
ourselves,  so  we  did  not  follow  them,  but  kept  on  down 
the  rocky  river.  We  found  generally  more  boulders 
than  water,  and  the  down  grade  of  the  river  bed  was 
heax-^-. 

Some  alders  and  willows  grew  upon  the  bank  and 
up  quite  high  on  the  mountains  we  could  see  a  little 
timber.  Some  days  we  did  not  go  more  than  four  or 
five  miles,  and  that  was  serious  work,  loading  and  un- 
loading our  canoes,  and  packing  them  o^-er  the 
boulders,  with  only  small  streams  of  water  curling 
around  between  them.  We  went  barefoot  most  of  the 
time,  for  we  were  more  than  half  of  the  time  in  the 
water  which  roared  and  dashed  so  loud  that  we  could 
hardly  heard  each  other  speak.  W'e  kept  getting  more 
and  more  venturesome  and  skillful,  and  managed  to 
run  some  very  dangerous  rapids  in  safety. 

On  the  high  peaks  above  our  heads  we  could  .see  the 
Rocky  Mountain  sheep  looking  defintly  at  us  from  their 


DEATH  VALLEY.  85 

mountain  fastnesses,  so  far  away  they  looked  no  larger 
than  jack  rabbits.  They  were  too  far  off  to  trj-  to 
shoot  at,  and  we  had  no  time  to  tr>'  to  steal  up  any 
nearer  for  at  the  rate  we  were  making,  food  would  be 
the  one  thing  needful,  for  we  were  consuming  it  very 
fast.  Sometimes  we  could  ride  a  little  ways,  and  then 
would  come  the  rough-and-tumble  with  the  rocks 
again. 

One  afternoon  we  came  to  a  sudden  turn  in  the 
river,  more  than  a  right  angle,  and,  just  below,  a  fall 
of  two  feet  or  more.  This  I  ran  in  safety,  as  did  the 
rest  who  followed  and  we  cheered  at  our  pluck  and 
skill.  Just  after  this  the  river  swung  back  the  other 
way  at  a  right  angle  or  more,  and  I  quickly  saw  there 
was  danger  below  and  signaled  them  to  go  on  shore 
at  once,  and  lead  the  canoes  over  the  dangerous 
rapids.  I  ran  my  own  canoe  near  shore  and  got  by 
the  rapid  safely,  waiting  for  the  others  to  come  also. 
They  did  not  obey  my  signals  but  thought  to  run  the 
rapid  the  same  as  I  did.  The  channel  here  was 
straight  for  200  yards,  without  a  boulder  in  it,  but 
the  stream  was  so  swift  that  it  caused  great,  rolling 
waves  in  the  center,  of  a  kind  I  have  never  seen  any- 
where else.  The  boys  were  not  skillfal  enough  to  nav- 
gate  this  stream,  and  the  suction  drew  them  to  the 
center  where  the  great  waves  rolled  them  over  and 
over,  bottom  side  up  and  every  way.  The  occupants 
of  our  canoe  let  go  and  swam  to  shore.  Fields  had 
always  been  afraid  of  water  and  had  worn  a  life  per- 
server  every  day  since  we  left  the  wagons.  He  threw 
up  his  hands  and  splashed  and  kicked  at  a  terrible 
rate,  for  he  could  not  swim,  and  at  last  made  solid 
ground.  One  of  the  canoes  came  down  into  the  eddy 
below,  where  it  lodged  close  to  the  shore,  bottom  up. 
Alfred  Walton  in  the  other  canoe  could  not  swim,  but 
held  on  to  the  gunw^ale  with  a  death  grip,  and  it  went 


86  DEATH  VALLEY. 

on  down  through  the  rapids.  Sometimes  we  could- 
see  the  man  and  sometimes  not,  and  he  and  the  canoe 
took  turns  in  disappearing.  Walton  had  ver}-  black 
hair,  and  as  he  clung  fast  to  his  canoe  his  black  head 
looked  like  a  crow  on  the  end  of  a  log.  Sometimes 
he  would  be  under  so  long  that  we  thought  he  must 
be  lost,  when  up  he  would  come  again  still  clinging 
manfulh-. 

AIcMahon  and  I  threw  everything  out  of  the  big 
canoe  and  pushed  out  after  him.  I  told  Mc.  to  kneel 
down  so  I  could  see  over  him  to  keep  the  craft  off  the 
rocks,  and  by  changing  his  paddle  from  side  to  side  as 
ordered,  he  enabled  me  to  make  quick  moves  and 
avoid  being  dashed  to  pieces.  We  fairly  flew,  the 
boys  said,  but  I  stood  up  in  the  stern  and  kept  it  clear 
of  danger  till  we  ran  into  a  clear  piece  of  liver  and 
overtook  Walton  clinging  to  the  overturned  boat;  Mc- 
Mahon  seized  the  boat  and  I  paddled  all  to  shore,  but 
Walton  was  nearly  dead  and  could  hardly  keep  his 
grasp  on  the  canoe.  We  took  him  to  a  sandy  place 
and  worked  over  him  and  warmed  him  in  the  sun  till 
he  came  to  life  again,  then  built  a  fire  and  laid  him 
up  near  to  it  to  get  dry  and  warm.  If  the  canoe  had 
gone  on  20  yards  farther  with  him  before  we  caught 
it,  he  would  have  gone  into  another  long  rapid  and 
been  drowned.  We  left  Walton  by  the  fire  and  cros.s- 
ing  the  river  in  the  slack  water,  went  up  to  where  the 
other  boys  were  standing,  wet  and  sorr3'-looking,  sa}'- 
that  all  was  gone  and  lost.  Rogers  put  his  hand  in 
his  pocket  and  pulled  out  three  half  dollars  and  said 
sadly: — "Boys,  this  is  all  I  am  worth  in  the  world.  " 
All^the  clothes  he  had  were  a  pair  of  overalls  and  a 
.shirt.  If  he  had  been  possessed  of  a  thousand  in  gold 
he  would  have  been  no  richer,  for  there  was  no  one  to 
bu}-  from  and  nothing  to  buy.  I  said  to  them:  "Bo^'s, 
we  can't  help  what  has  happened,  we '11  do  the  best  we 


DEATH  VALLEY.  87 

can.  Right  your  canoe,  get  the  water  out,  and  we'll 
go  down  and  see  how  Walton  is. "  They  did  as  I  told 
them,  and  lo  and  behold  when  the  canoe  rolled  right 
side  up,  there  were  their  clothes  and  blankets  safe 
and  sound.  These  light  things  had  floated  in  the 
canoe  and  were  safe.  We  now  tried  by  joining  hands 
to  reach  out  far  enough  to  recover  some  of  the  guns, 
but  by  feeling  with  their  feet  they  found  the^bottom 
smooth  as  glass  and  the  property  all  swept  on  below, 
no  one  knew  where.  The  current  was  so  powerful 
that  no  one  could  stand  in  it  where  it  came  up  above 
his  knees.  The  eddy  which  enabled  us  to  save  the 
first  canoe  with  the  bedding  and  clothes  was  caused 
by  a  great  boulder  as  large  as  a  house  which  had  fallen 
from  above  and  partly  blocked  the  stream.  Every- 
thing that  would  sink  was  lost. 

We  all  got  into  the  two  canoes  and  went  down  U) 
Walton,  where  we  camped  and  staid  all  night  for 
Walton's  benefit.  While  we  were  waiting  I  took  my 
gun  and  tried  to  climb  u])  high  enough  to  see  how 
much  longer  this  horrible  canon  was  going  to  last,  but 
after  many  attempts,  I  could  not  get  high  enough  to 
see  in  any  direction.  The  mountain  was  all  bare 
rocks  in  terraces,  but  it  was  impossible  to  climb  from 
one  to  the  other,  and  the  benches  were  all  filled  with 
broken  rocks  that  had  fallen  from  above. 

By  the  time  I  got  back  to  camp,  Walton  was  dry  and 
warm  and  could  .talk.  He  said  he  felt  better,  and 
pretty  good  over  his  rescue.  When  he  was  going 
under  the  water,  it  seemed  sometimes  as  if  he  never 
w^ould  come  to  the  top  again,  but  he  held  on  and 
eventually  came  out  all  right.  He  never  knew  how 
he  got  to  shore,  he  was   so  nearly  dead  when  rescued. 

The  ne.xt  morning  Walton  was  .so  well  we  started 
on.  We  were  now  very  ])oorly  armed.  My  rifle  and 
McMahon's    shotg:un   were    all    the  arms  we.  had  for 


88  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

seven  of  us,  and    we  could  make  but  a  poor  defence  it 
attacked  by  man  or  beast,  to  say  nothing  of  providing 
ourselves   with    food.     The   mountains    on  each  side 
were  ver}"  bare  of  timber,  those  on  the  east  side  par- 
ticiilarly  so,  and  very  high  and  barren.     Toward  night 
we  were    floating   along  in   a   piece   of  slack    water, 
the  river  below  made  a  short  turn  around  a  high   and 
rocky   point    almost   perpendicular  from    the    water. 
There  was  a  terrace  along  the  side  of  this  point  about 
fifty  feet  up,  and  the  bench  grew  narrower  as   it  ap- 
proached the  river.     As   I    was    coming   down  quite 
close  under  this  bank  I  saw  three  mountain  sheep  on 
the  bench  above,  and,  motioning  to  the  boys,  I  ran  on 
shore  and,  with  ni}'  gun  in  hand,  crept  down  toward 
them,  keeping   a  small  pine  tree  between  myself  and 
the   sheep.     There    were  some  cedar  bushes  on  the 
point,  and  the  pines  grew  about  half  way  up  the  bank. 
I  got  in  as  good  a  range  as  possible  and  fired  at  one 
of  them  which  staggered  around  and  fell  down  to  the 
bottom  of  the  cliff".      I  loaded  and  took  the  next  larg  • 
est  one  which  came  down  the  same  way.     The  third 
one  tried  to  escape  by  going  down  the  bend  and  then 
creeping  up  a  crevice,  but  it  could  not  get   awa}'  and 
turned  back,  cautiously,  which   gave  me  time  to  load 
again  and  put  a  ball  through  it.     I  hit  it  a  little  too 
far  back  for  instant  death,  but  I   followed  it  up  and 
found  it  down  and  helpless,  and  soon  secured  it.     I 
hauled  this  one  down  the  mountain,   and   the   other 
boys  had  the  two  others  secure  by  this  time.      McMa- 
hon  was  so  elated  at  my  success  that  he  said:    "  Man- 
ley,  if  I  could  shoot  as  3'ou  do  I  would  never  want  anj^ 
better   business. ' '     And  the  other  fellows   said  they 
guessed  we  were  having  better  luck  with  one  gun  than 
with  six,  so  we  had  a  merry  time  after  all.     These  an- 
imals were  of  a  bluish  color,  with  hair  much  finer  than 
deer,    and  resembled  a  goat  more  than  a  sheep.    These 


DEATH  \'ALLEY.  89 

three  were  all  females  and  their  horns  were  quite 
straight,  not  curved  like  the  big  males.  W^e  cut  the 
meat  from  the  bones  and  broke  them  up,  making  a 
fine  soup  which  tasted  pretty  good.  They  were  in 
pretty  good  order,  and  the  meat  like  very  good  mut- 
ton. 

We  kept  pushing  on  down  the  river.  The  rapids 
were  still  dangerous  in  many  places,  but  not  so  fre- 
quent nor  so  bad  as  the  part  we  had  gone  over,  and  we 
could  see  that  the  river  gradually  grew  smoother  as 
we  progressed. 

After  a  day  or  two  we  began  to  get  out  of  the  canons, 
but  the  mountains  and  hills  on  each  side  were  barren 
and  of  a  pale  yellow  caste,  with  no  chance  for  us  to 
climb  up  and  take  a,  look  to  see  if  there  were  any 
chances  for  us  fartlier  along.  We  had  now  been 
obliged  to  follow  the  cafion  for  many  miles,  for  the 
only  way  to  get  out  was  to  get  out  endwise,  climb- 
ing the  banks  being  utterly  out  of  the  question.  But 
these  mountains  .soon  came  to  an  end,  and  there  was 
some  Cottonwood  and  willows  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
which  was  now  so  smooth  we  could  ride  along  with- 
out the  continual  loading  and  unloading  we  had  been 
forced  to  practice  for  so  long.  We  had  begun  to  get 
a  little  desperate  at  the  lack  of  game,  but  the  new 
valley,  which  grew  wider  all  the  time,  gave  us  hope 
again,  if  it  was  quite  barren  everywhere  except  back 
of  the  willow  trees. 

We  were  floating  along  very  silently  one  da^-,  tor 
none  of  us  felt  very  much  in  the  mood  for  talking, 
when  we  heard  a  distant  sound  which  we  thought  was 
very  much  like  the  firing  of  a  gun.  We  kept  still, 
and  in  a  short  time  a  similar  sound  was  heard,  plainer 
and  evidently  some  ways  down  the  stream.  Again  and 
again  we  heard  it,  and  decided  that  it  must  be  a  gun 
shot,  and  yet  we  were  puzzled  to  know  how  it  could 


90  DEATH  VALLEY. 

be.  We  were  preLt_v  sure  there  were  no  white  people 
ahead  of  us,  and  we  did  not  suppose  the  Indians  in 
this  far-off  land  had  any  firearms.  It  might  be  barely 
possible  that  we  were  coming  now  to  some  wagon 
train  taking  a  southern  course,  for  we  had  never  heard 
that  there  were  any  settlements  in  this  direction  and 
the  barren  country  would  preclude  any  such  thing,  as 
we  viewed  it  now.  If  it  was  a  hostile  band  we  could 
not  do  much  watha  rifle  and  a  shot  gun  toward  defend- 
ing ourselves  or  taking  the  aggressive.  Some  of  the 
boys  spoke  of  our  scalps  ornamenting  a  spear  handle, 
and  indulged  in  such  like  cheerful  talk  which  com- 
forted us  wonderfully. 

Finally  we  concluded  we  did  not  come  out  into  that 
wild  country  to  be  afraid  of  a  few  gunshots,  and  de- 
termined to  put  on  a  bold  front,  fight  if  we  had  to,  run 
away  if  we  could  not  do  any  better,  and  take  our 
chances  on  getting  scalped  or  roasted.  Just  then  we 
came  in  sight  of  three  Indian  lodges  just  a  little  back 
from  the  river,  and  now  we  knew  for  certain  who  had 
the  guns.  McMahon  and  I  were  in  the  lead  as  usual, 
and  it  was  only  a  nioment  before  one  of  the  Indians 
appeared,  gun  in  hand,  and  made  motions  for  us  to 
come  on  shore.  A  cottonwood  tree  lay  nearh-  across 
the  river,  and  I  had  gone  so  far  that  I  had  to  go  around 
it  and  land  below,  but  the  other  boys  behind  were 
afraid  to  do  otherwise  than  to  land  right  there  as  the 
Indian  kept  his  gun  lying  across  his  arm.  I  ran  our 
canoe  below  to  a  patch  of  willows,  where  we  landed 
and  crawled  through  the  brush  till  we  came  in  sight 
of  the  other  boys,  where  we  stood  and  waited  a  mo- 
ment to  see  how  they  fared,  and  whether  our  red  men 
were  friends  or  enemies.  There  were  no  suspicious 
movements  on  their  part,  so  we  came  out  and  walked 
right  up  to  them.  There  was  some  little  talk,  but  I 
am  sure  w^edid  not  understand  one  another's  language, 


DEATH  VALI^EY.  91 

and  so  we  made  motions  and  they  made  motions,  and 
we  got  along-  better.  We  went  with  them  down  to 
the  tepee,  and  there  we  heard  the  first  word  that  was 
at  all  like  English  and  that  was  ' '  Mormonee, ' '  with 
a  sort  of  questioning  tone.  Pretty  soon  one  said 
' '  Buffalo, ' '  and  then  we  concluded  they  were  on  a  big 
hunt  of  some  sort.  They  took  us  into  their  lodges 
and  shov.'ed  us  blankets,  knives,  and  guns,  and  then, 
with  a  suggestive  motion,  said  all  was  "  Mormonee,  " 
by  which  we  understood  they  had  got  them  from  the 
Mormons.  The  Indian  in  the  back  part'  of  the  lodge 
looked  very  pleasant  and  his  countenance  showed  a 
good  deal  of  intelligence  for  a  man  of  the  mountains. 
I  now  told  the  boys  that  we  were  in  a  ]iosition  where 
we  were  dependent  on  some  one,  and  that  I  had  seen 
enough  to  convince  me  that  these  Indians  were  per- 
fectly friendly  with  the  Mormons,  and  that  for  our  own 
benefit  we  had  better  i)a.ss  ourselves  off  for  Mormons, 
also.  So  we  put  our  right  hand  to  our  l)reast  and  .said 
"  Mormonee,"  with  a  cheerful  countenance,  and  that 
act  conveyed  to  them  the  belief  that  we  were  chosen 
disciples  of  the  great  and  only  Brigham  and  we  became 
friends  at  once,  as  all  acknowledged.  The  fine-look- 
ing Indian  who  sat  as  king  in  the  lodge  now,  by  mo- 
tions and  a  word  or  two,  made  him.self  known  as  Chief 
Walker,  and  when  I  knew  this  I  took  great  pains  to. 
cultivate  his  acquaintance. 

I  was  quite  familiar  with  the  sign  language  used  bv 
all  the  Indians,  and  found  I  could  get  along  pretty 
well  in  making  him  understand  and  knowing  what  he 
said.  I  asked  him  first  how  many  "sleeps  "  or  days 
it  was  from  there  to  "Mormonee."  In  answer  he  put 
out  his  left  hand  and  then  pnt  two  fingers  of  his  right 
astride  of  it,  making  both  go  up  and  down  with  the 
same  motion  of  a  man  riding  a  horse.  Then  he  shut 
his  eyes  and  laid  his  head  on  his  hand  three  times,  bv 


92  DEATH  VALLEY. 

which  I  understood  that  a  man  could  ride  to  the  Mor- 
mon settlement  in  three  sleeps  or  four  daj's.  He  then 
wanted  to  know  where  we  were  going,  and  I  made 
signs  that  we  were  wishing  to  go  toward  the  setting 
.sun  and  to  the  big  water,  and  I  said  "California." 
The  country  off  to  the  west  of  us  now  seemed  an  open, 
barren  plain,  which  grew  wider  as  it  extended  west. 
The  mountains  on  the  north  side  seemed  to  get  lower 
and  smaller  as  they  extended  west,  but  on  the  south 
or  east  side  they  were  all  high  and  rough.  It  seemed 
as  if  we  could  see  one  hundred  miles  down  the  river, 
and  up  to  the  time  we  met  the  Indians  we  thought  we 
had  got  through  all  our  troublesome  navigation  and 
•could  now  sail  on,  quietly  and  safely  to  the  great  Pa- 
cific Ocean  and  land  of  gold. 

When  I  told  Chief  Walker  this  he  seemed  very 
much  astonished,  as  if  wondering  why  we  were  going 
■down  the  river  when  we  wanted  to  get  west  across  the 
country.  I  asked  him  how  man)-  sleeps  it  was  to  the 
big  water,  and  he  shook  his  head,  pointed  out  across 
the  country  and  then  to  the  river  and  shook  his  head 
again;  by  which  I  understood  that  water  was  scarce, 
out  the  way  he  pointed.  He  then  led  me  down  to  a 
smooth  sand  bar  on  the  river  and  then,  with  a  crooked 
stick,  began  to  make  a  map  in  the  sand.  Eirst  he  made 
a  long  crooked  mark,  ten  feet  long  or  so,  and  pointing 
to  the  river  to  let  me  know  that  the  mark  in  the  sand 
was  made  to  represent  it.  He  then  made  a  straight 
mark  across  near  the  north  end  of  the  stream,  and 
showed  the  other  streams  which  came  into  the  Green 
river  which  I  saw  at  once  was  exactl)'  correct.  Then 
he  laid  soine  small  stones  on  each  side  of  the  cross 
mark,  and  making  a  small  hoop  of  a  willow  twig,  he 
rolled  it  in  the  mark  he  had  made  across  the  river, 
then  flourished  his  stick  as  if  he  were  driving  oxen. 
Thus  he  represented  the   emigrant    road.      He    traced 


r)p:ATH  \'atj.p:y.  93 

the  branches  off  to  the  north  where  the  soldiers  had 
gone,  and  the  road  to  California,  which  the  emigrants 
took,  all  of  which  we  conld  see  was  correct.  Then 
he  began  to  describe  the  river  down  which  we  had 
come.  A  short  distance  below  the  road  he  put  some 
small  stones  on  each  side  of  the  river  to  represent 
mountains.  He  then  put  down  his  hands,  one  on 
■each  side  of  the  crooked  mark  and  then  raised  them 
up  again  sa3'ing  e-e-e-e-e-e  as  he  raised  them,  to  sa}- 
that  the  mountains  there  were  very  high.  Then  he 
traced  down  the  stream  to  a  place  below  where  we 
made  our  canoes;  when  he  placed  the  stone  back  from 
the  river  farther,  to  show  that  there  was  a  valle}' there ; 
then  he  drew  them  in  close  again  farther  down,  and 
piled  them  up  again  two  or  three  tiers  high,  then 
placing  both  fists  on  them  he  raised  them  higher  than 
the  top  of  his  head,  saying  e-e-e-e-e-e  and  looking  still 
higher  and  shaking  his  head  as  if  to  say  :-  "Awful  bad 
canon",  and  thus  he  went  on  describing  the  river  till 
we  understood  that  we  were  near  the  place  where  we 
now  were,  and  then  pointed  to  his  tepee,  showing  that 
I  understood  him  all  right.  It\vas  all  correct,  as  I 
very  well  knew  and  assured  me  that  he  knew  all  about 
the  country. 

I  became  much  interested  in  my  new  found  friend, 
and  had  him  continue  his  map  down  the  river-  He 
showed  two  streams  coming  in  on  the  east  side  and 
then  he  began  piling  up  stones  on  each  side  of  the  river 
and  then  got  longer  ones  and  piled  them  higher  and 
higher  3'et.  Then  he  stood  with  one  foot  on  each  side 
of  his  river  and  put  his  hands  on  the  stones  and  then 
raised  them  as  high  as  he  could,  making  a  continued 
c-e-e-e-e-e  as  long  as  his  breath  would  last,  pointed  to 
the  canoe  and  made  signs  with  his  hands  how  it  would 
roll  and  pitch  in  the  rapids  and  finely  capsize  and  throw 
us  all  out.      He  then  made  signs  of  death  to    show  us 


94  DEATH  YAhhUY. 

that  it  was  a  fatal  place.  I  understood  perfect!}^  plain 
from  this  that  below  the  valley  where  we  now  were 
was  a  terrible  cafion,  much  higher  than  any  we  had 
passed,  and  the  rapids  were  not  navigable  with  safety. 
Then  Walker  shook  his  head  more  than  once  and 
looked  very  sober,  and  said  "Indiano"  and  reaching 
for  his  bow  and  arrows,  he  drew  the  bow  back  to  it's 
utmost  length  and  put  the  arrow  close  to  my  breast, 
showing  how  I  w^ould  get  shot.  Then  he  would  draw 
his  hand  across  his  throat  and  shut  his  eyes  as  if  in 
death  to  make  us  understand  that  this  was  a  hostile 
country   before  us,   as  well  as   rough  and   dangerous. 

I  nowhad  a  description  of  the  countr}-  ahead  and  be- 
lieved '.t  to  be  reliable.  As  soon  as  I  could  con  viently  af- 
ter this,  I  had  a  council  with  the  boys,  who  had  looked 
on  in  silence  while  I  was  holding  the  silent  confab 
with  the  chief.  I  told  them  where  we  were  and  what 
chances  there  were  of  getting  to  California  by  this 
route,  and  that  for  my  part  I  had  as  soon  be  killed  b}- 
Mormans  as  by  savage  Indians,  and  that  I  believed 
the  best  way  for  us  to  do  was  to  make  the  best  of  our 
way  to  Salt  Lake.  "Now"  I  said,  "Those  of  you  who 
agree  with  me  can  follow  —  and  I  hope  all   will. ' ' 

Mc.  Mahon  said  that  we  could  not  understand  a 
word  the  old  Indian  said,  and  as  to  following  his  trails, 
I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it,   and  it  don't  seem  right. 

He  said  he  had  a  map  of  the  country,  and  it  looked 
just  as  safe  to  him  to  go  on  down  the  river  as  to  go 
wandering  acro.ss  a  dry  and  desolate  country  which 
we  knew  nothing  of.  I  said  to  Mc.  Mahon — "I 
know  this  sign  language  pretty  well.  It  is  used  bj^ 
almost  all  the  Indians  and  is  just  as  plain  and  certain 
to  me  as  my  talk  is  to  you.  Chief  W^alker  and  his 
forefathers  were  borne  here  and  know  the  country  as 
well  as  you  know  your  father's  farm,  and  for  my 
part,  I  think  I  shall  take  one  of  his  trails  and  go  to  Salt 


DEATH  VALLEY.  95 

Lake  and  take  the  chances  that  way.  I  have  no  ob- 
jection.s  to  you  goino^  some  other  way  if  you  wi.sh  to 
and  thmk  it  is  best".  McMahon  and  Fields  conclu- 
ded they  would  not  follow  me  any  farther. 

I  then  went  to  Chief  Walker  and  had  him  point 
out  the  trail  to  "Mormonie"  as  well  as  he  could.  He 
told  me  where  to  enter  the  mountains  leading  north, 
and  when  we  got  part  way  he  told  me  we  would  come 
to  an  Indian  camp,  when  I  must  follow  some  horse 
tracks  newly  made;  he  made  me  know  this  by  using 
his  hands  like  horse's  forefeet,  and  pointed  the  way. 

Some  of  the  voung  men  motioned  for  me  to  come 
out  and  shoot  at  a  mark  with  them,  and  as  I  saw  it 
would  please  them  I  did  so  and  took  good  care  to 
beat  them  every  time  too.  Then  they  wanted  to  swap 
(narawaup)  guns  with  me  which  I  declined  doing. 
After  this  the  Chief  came  tome  and  wanted  me  to  go 
and  hunt  buffalo  with  them.  I  told  him  I  had  no 
horse,  and  then  he  went  and  had  a  nice  gray  one 
brought  up  and  told  me  I  could  ride  him  if  I  would  go. 
He  took  his  bow  and  arrow  and  showed  me  how  he 
could  shoot  an  arrow  straight  through  a  buffalo  just 
back  of  his  short  ribs  and  that  the  arrow  would  go 
clear  through  and  come  out  on  the  other  side  without 
touching  a  bone.  Those  fellows  were  in  fine  .spirit, 
on  a  big  hunt,  and  when  Walker  pointed  out  his  route 
to  me  he  swung  his  hand  around  to  vSalt  Lake. 

They  all  spoke  the  word  buffalo  quite  })lainly.  I 
took  his  strong  bow  and  found  I  could  hardly  pull  it 
half  way  out,  but  I  have  no  doubt  he  could  do  as  he  said 
he  could.  I  hardly  knew  how  to  refuse  going  with  him. 
I  a.sked  him  how  long  it  would  be  before  he  would  gel 
around  his  long  circuit  and  get  to  Salt  Lake,  to  whicli 
he  replied  by  pulverizing  some  leaves  in  his  hands  and 
scattering  them  in  the  air  to  represent  snow,  which 
■   would  fall  by  the  time  he  got  to  "Mormonee".      I  shiv- 


96  DEATH  VALLEY. 

ered  as  he  said  this  and  by  his  actions  I  saw  that  I 
understood  him  right' 

I  told  him  I  could  not  go  with  him  for  the  other  boys 
would  depend  on  me  to  get  them  something  to  eat, 
and  I  put  my  linger  into  my  open  mouth  to  tell  him 
this.  I  think  if  I  had  been  alone  I  should  have  ac- 
cepted his  offer  and  should  have  had  a  good  time.  I 
gave  them  to  understand  that  we  would  swap  (nara- 
waup)  with  them  for  some  horses  so  he  brought  up  a 
pair  of  nice  two  year-old  colts  for  us.  I  offered  him 
some  money  for  them,  he  did  not  want  that,  but  would 
take  clothing  of  almost  any  kind.  We  let  them  have 
some  that  we  could  get  along  without,  and  some  one 
let  Walker  have  a  coat.  He  put  it  on,  and  being 
more  warmly  dressed  than  ever  before,  the  sweat  ran 
down  his  face  in  streams.  We  let  them  have  some 
needles  and  thread  and  some  odd  notions  we  had  to 
spare.  We  saw  that  Walker  had  some  three  or  four 
head  of  cattle  with  him  which  he  could  kill  if  thev 
did  not  .secure  game  at  the  time  they  expected. 
McMahon  and  Field  still  persisted  they  would  not 
go  with  us  and  so  we  divided  our  little  stock  of  flour 
and  dried  meat  with  them  as  fairlv  as  possible  and  de- 
cided we  would  try  the  trail.  When  our  plans  were 
settled  we  felt  in  pretty  good  spirits  again,  and  one  of 
the  boys  got  up  a  sort  of  corn-stalk  fiddle  wqich  made 
a  squeaking  noise  and  in  a  little  while  there  was  a  sort 
of  mixed  American  and  Indian  dance  going  on  in 
which  the  sqaws  joined  in  and  we  had  a  pretty  jolly 
time  till  quite  late  at  nig.lt.  We  wcire  well  pleased 
that  these  wild  folks  had  proved  themselves  to  be  true 
friends  to  us. 

The  morning  we  were  to  start  I  told  the  boys  a  dream 
I  had  in  which  I  had  .seen  that  the  course  we  had  de- 
cided on  was  the  correct  one,  but  Mc.  Mahon  and 
Field  thought  we  were  foolish  and  said  they  had  rath- 


DEATH  \'ALLEV.  97 

er  take  the  chances  of  going  with  the  Indians,  or  go- 
ing on  down  the  river.  He  seemed  to  place  great 
stress  on  the  fact  that  he  could  not  understand  the 
Indians. 

Said  He: — "This  Indian  mcy  be  all  right,  and  may- 
be he  will  lead  us  all  into  a  dreadful  trap.  They  are 
treacherous  and  revengeful,  and  for  some  merely  fan- 
cied wrong  done  by  us,  or  by  some  one  else  of  whom 
we  have  no  control  or  knowledge,  they  may  take  our 
scalps,  wipe  us  out  of  existence  and  no  one  will  ever 
know  what  became  of  us.  Now  this  map  of  mine 
don't  show  any  bad  places  on  this  river,  and  I  believe 
we  can  get  down  easily  enough,  aud  get  to  California 
some  time.  Field  and  I  cannot  make  up  our  minds  so 
easily  as  you  fellows,  i  believe  your  chances  are 
ver\'  poor. 

The  boys  now  had  (nu-  few  things  loaded  on  the  two 
colts,  for  they  had  fully  decided  to  go  with  me,  and  I 
was  not  in  the  least  put  back  by  McMahon"s  dire 
forbodings.  We  shook  hands  with  ([uivering  lips  as 
we  each  hoped  the  other  would  meet  good  luck,  and 
find  enough  to  eat  and  all  such  sort  of  friendly  talk, 
and  then  with  my  little  party  on  the  one  side  and 
McMahon  and  Field,  whom  we  were  to  leave  behind, 
on  the  other,  we  bowed  to  each  other  with  bared 
heads,  and  then  we  started  out  of  the  little  young  cot- 
tonwoods  into  the  broad  plain  that  sec.ned  to  get  wid- 
er and  wider  as  we  went  west. 

The  mountains  on  the  northern  side  grew  smaller 
and  less  steep  as  we  went  west,  and  on  the  other  hand 
reached  down  the  river  as  far  as  we  could  see.  The 
plain  itself  was  black  and  barren  and  for  a  hundred 
miles  at  least  ahead  of  us  it  seemed  to  have  no  end. 
Walker  had  explained  to  us  that  we  must  follow  some 
horse  tracks  and  enter  a  canon  some  miles  to  the 
northwest.      He  had  made  his  hands  work  like  horses  - 


98  DEATH  VALLEY. 

feet,  placing  then  near  the  ground  as  if  following  a 
trail,  We  were  not  much  more  than  a  mile  away 
when  on  looking  back,  we  saw  Chief  Walker  com- 
ing towards  us  on  a  horse  at  full  speed;  and  motioning 
for  us  to  stop.  This  we  did,  though  some  of  the  boys 
said  we  would  surely  be  marched  back  and  scalped. 
But  it  was  not  for  that  he  came.  He  had  been  watch- 
ing us  and  saw  that  we  had  failed  to  notice  the  tracks 
of  the  horses  he  told  us  about  so  he  rode  after  us,  and 
now  took  us  off  some  little  distance  to  the  right,  got 
off  his  horse  and  showed  us  the  faint  horse  tracks  which 
we  were  to  follow  and  said  "Mormonie".  He  pointed 
out  to  us  the  exact  caiion  we  were  to  enter  when  we 
reached  the  hills;  and  said  after  three  "sleeps"  we 
would  find  an  Indian  camp  on  top  of  the  mountain. 
He  then  bade  us  good  bye  again  and  galloped  back 
to  his  own  camp. 

We  now  resumed  our  journey,  keeping  watch  of 
the  tracks  more  closely,  and  as  we  came  near  the 
spurs  of  the  mountain  which  projected  out  into  the 
barren  valley  we  crossed  several  well  marked  trails 
running  along  the  foot  hiils,  at  right  angles  to  our 
own.  This  we  afterwards  learned  was  the  regular  trail 
from  vSanta  Fe  to  Los  Angeles.  At  some  big  rocks 
further  on  we  camped  for  the  night,  and  found  water 
in  some  pools  or  holes  in  the  flat  rocks  which  held 
the  rain. 

Reading  people  of  to-day,  who  know  so  well  the  ge- 
ography of  the  American  continent,  may  need  to  stop 
and  think  that  in  1849  the  whole  region  west  of  the 
Missouri  River  was  very  little  knowai,  the  only  men 
venturesome  enough  to  dare  to  travel  over  it  were 
hunters  and  trappers  who.  by  a  wild  life  had  been 
used  to  all  the  privations  of  such  a  journey,  and 
j^hrewd  as  the  Indians  themselves  in  the  mysterious 
wavs  of  the  trail  and  the  chase.      Even   the.se  fellows 


DEATH  \'ALIvEY.  99 

had  onl)-  investigated  certain  portions  nest  snited  to 
their  purpose. 

The  Indians  here  have  the  reputation  of  being  blood 
thirsty  savages  who  took  delight  in  murder  and  tor- 
ture, but  here,  in  the  very  midst  of  this  wild  and  des- 
olate country  we  found  a  Chief  and  his  tribe,  Walker 
and  his  followers  who  were  as  humane  and  kind  to 
white  people  as  could  be  expected  of  any  one.  I  have 
often  wondered  at  the  knowledge  of  this  man  respect- 
ing the  country,  of  which  he  was  able  to  make  us  a 
good  map  in  the  sand,  point  out  to  us  the  impassable 
canon,  locate  the  hostile  Indians,  and  many  points 
which  were  not  accurately  known  by  our  own  explor- 
ers for  many  years  afterward.  He  undoubtedly  saved 
our  little  band  from  a  watery  grave,  for  without  his 
advice  we  had  gone  on  and  on,  far  into  the  great 
Colorado  canon,  from  which  escape  would  have  been 
impossible  and  securing  food  another  impo.ssibility, 
while  destruction  by  hostile  indians  was  among  the 
strong  probabilities  of  the  case.  vSoin  a  threefold  way 
I  have  for  these  more  than  forty  years  credited  the 
lives  of  myself  and  comrades  to  the  thoughtful  interest 
and  humane  consideration  of  old  Chief  Walker. 

In  another  jiool  or  pond  near  the  one  where  we 
were  camp  ed  I  shot  a  .^^mall  duck.  Big  sage  was  i-)lenty 
here  for  fuel  and  we  had  duck  for  supper.  Our  party 
consisted  of  five  men  and  two  small  ponies  only  two 
vears  old,  with  a  stock  of  provisions  very  small  includ- 
ing that  the  old  chief  had  given  us.  We  started  on 
in  the  morning,  following  our  faint  trail  till  we  came  to 
the  cailon  we  had  in  \-iew,  and  up  this  we  turned  as 
we  had  been  directed,  finding  in  the  bottom  a  little 
runniug  stream.  Timber  began  to  appear  as  we  as- 
cended, and  gra.ss  also.  There  were  signs  of  deer  and 
grouse  but  we  had  no  time  lo  stop  to  hunt,  for  I  had 
the  onlv  gun  and  while  I  hunted   the  others  must   lie 


loo  DEATH  VALLEY. 

idly  by.  We  reached  the  summit  at  a  low  pass,  and 
ju.st  above,  on  the  north  side  of  the  higher  mountains 
were  considerable  banks  of  snow.  Following  the 
Chief's  instructions  we  left  the  trail  and  followed  some 
horse  tracks  over  rolling  hills,  high  on  the  mountain 
side.  We  found  the  Indian  camp  exactly  as  the  Chief 
had  described,  consisting  of  tw^o  or  three  lodges.  The 
men  were  all  absent  hvmting,  but  the  women  were 
gathering  and  baking  .some  sort  of  a  root  which  looked 
like  a  carrot.  They  made  a  pile  of  several  bushels 
and  covered  it  with  earth,  then  made  a  fire,  treating 
the  pile  some  as  a  charcoal  burner  does  his  pit  of  coal. 
When  sufficiently  cooked  they  beat  them- up  and  made 
the  material  into  small  cakes  which  were  dried  in  the 
sun.  The  dried  cakes  were  as  black  as  coal  and  in- 
tended for  winter  use.  These  roots  before  roasting 
were  unfit  for  food,  as  they  contained  a  sort  of  acrid 
juice  that  would  make  the  tongue  smart  and  very  sore 
but  there  was  a  very  good  rich  taste  when  cooked. 
The  woman  pointed  to  our  horses  and  said  "Walker", 
so  we  knew  they  were  aware  that  we  got  them  of 
him,  and  might  have  taken  us  for  horse  thieves  for 
aught  I  know.  As  it  was  not  yet  night  when  we 
came  to  the  camp,  we  passed  on  and  camped  on  a  clear 
mountain  brook  where  grew  some  pine  trees. .  After 
a  little  some  of  the  Indians  belonging  to  the  camp  we 
had  passed  came  in,  bringing  some  venison,  for  which 
we  traded  by  giving  them  .some  needles  and  a  few  oth- 
er trinkets.  I  beat  these  fellows  shooting  at  a  mark, 
and  then  they  wanted  to  trade  guns,  which  I  declined. 
This  piece  of  meat  helped  us  along  considerably  with 
our  provisions,  for  game  was  ver}-  scarce  and  only 
some  sage  hens  had  come  across  our  trail.  One  da}- 1 
scared  a  hawk  off  the  ground,  and  we  took  the  sage 
hen  he  had  caught  and  was  eating,  and  made  some 
soup  of  it. 


UKATH  \'ALLHY.  loi 

Alter  being  on  this  trail  six  or  seven  days  we  began 
to  think  of  killing  one  of  our  colts  for  food,  for  we  had 
put  ourselves  on  two  meals  a  day  and  the  work  was 
very  hard;  so  that  hunger  was  all  the  time  increasing. 
We  thought  this  was  a  pretty  long  road  for  Walker  to 
ride  over  in  three  sleeps  as  he  said  he  could,  and  we 
began  also  to  think  there  might  be  some  mistake 
somewhere,  although  it  had  otherwise  turned  out  just 
as  he  said.  On  the  eighth  day  our  horse-tracks  came 
out  into  a  large  trail  which  was  on  a  down  grade  lead- 
ing in  a  northward  direction.  On  the  ninth  day  we 
came  into  a  large  valley,  and  near  night  came  in  sight 
of  a  few  covered  wagons,  a  part  of  a  train  that  intend- 
ed going  on  a  little  later  over  the  southern  route  to 
Los  Angeles  but  were  waiting  for  the  weather  to  get 
a  little  cooler,  for  a  large  part  of  the  route  was  over 
almost  barren  deserts.  We  were  very  glad  to  find 
these  wagons,  for  they  seemed  to  have  plenty  of  food 
and  the  bountiful  supper  they  treated  us  to  was  the 
very  thing  we  needed.  We  camped  here  and  told 
them  of  the  hardshii)s  we  had  i)assed  through.  They 
had  hired  a  guide,  each  wagon  pa>  ing  him  ten  dollars 
for  his  service.  Our  little  party  talked  over  the  situ- 
ation among  ourselves,  and  concluded  that  as  we  were 
good  walkers  we  must  allow  ourselves  to  be  used  in 
any  way  so  that  we  had  grub  and  concluded  as 
many  of  us  as  jiossible  would  trN-  to  get  some  service 
to  do  for  our  board  and  walk  along  with  the  party. 
John  Rogers  had  a  dollar  and  a  half  and  I  had  thirty 
dollars,  which  was  all  the  money  we  had  in  our  camp. 
We  found  out  we  were  about  60  miles  south  of  vSalt 
L,ake  City.  Some  of  the  boys  next  day  arranged  to 
work  for  their  l)oard,  and  the  others  would  he  taken 
along  if  they  would  furnish  themselves  with  flour  and 
bacon.  This  part  of  the  proposition  fell  to  me  and 
two  others,  and    so  Hazelrig  and  I  took  the  two  colts 


1 02  DEATH  V A  LIvE Y , 

and  started  for  the  city,  where  they  told  its  we  could 
get  all  we  needed  with  our  little  purse  of  money. 
We  reached  Hobble  Creek  before  night,  near  Salt 
Lake  where  there  was  a  Mormon  fort,  and  were  also 
a  number  of  wagons  belonging  to  some  prospecting 
train.  There  seemed  to  be  no  men  about  and  we  were 
looking  about  among  the  wagons  for  some  one  to  in- 
quire of,  when  a  woman  came  to  the  front  of  the  last 
wagon  and  looked  out  at  us,  and  to  my  surprise  it  was 
Mrs.  Bennett,  wife  of  the  man  I  had  been  trying  to 
overtake  ever  since  my  start  on  this  long  trip  Bennett 
bad  my  entire  outfit  with  him  on  this  trip  and  w^as  all 
the  time  wondering  whether  I  would  ever  catch  u]) 
with  them.  We  stayed  till  the  men  came  in  with  their 
cattle  tow^ards  night,  and  Bennett  was  glad  enough 
to  see  me,  I  assure  you.  We  had  a  good  substantial 
supper  and  then  sat  around  the  campfire  nearly  all 
night  telling  of  our  experience  since  leaving  Wiscon- 
sin. I  had  missed  Bennett  at  the  Missouri  River. 
I  knew  of  no  place  where  people  crossed  the  river  ex- 
cept Council  Bluff,  here  I  had  searched  faithfully,  find- 
ing no  trace  of  him,  but  it  seems  they  had  crossed 
farther  up  at  a  place  called  Kanesville,  a  Mormon 
crossing,  and  followed  up  the  Platte  river  on  the  north 
side.  Their  only  bad  luck  had  been  to  loose  a  fine 
black  horse,  which  was  staked  out,  and  when  a  herd 
of  buffaloes  came  along  he  broke  his  rope  and  followed 
after  them.  He  was  looked  for  with  other  horses,  but 
never  found  and  doubtless  became  a  prize  for  .some 
enterprizing  Mr.  Lo.  who  was  fortunate  enough  to 
capture  him.  '  Hazelrig  and  I  told  of  our  experiance 
on  the  .south  side  of  the  Platte;  why  we  went  down 
l>reen  River;  what  a  rough  time  we  had;  ho^'  we 
-were  stopped  b}-  the  Indians  and  how  we  had  come  a- 
cross  from  the  river,  arriving  the  day  before  and  were 
now  on  our  wav  to  vSalt  Lake  to  get  some  flour  and  ba- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  105 

con  so  we  could  go  on  with  the  train  when  it  started 
as  they  had  offered  to  haul  our  grub  for  our  service  if 
we  could  carry  ourselves  on  foot. 

Mr.  Bennett  would  not  hear  of  my  going  on  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  for  he  said  there  must  be  provisions 
enough  in  the  party  and  in  the  morning  we  were  able 
to  buy  flour  and  bacon  of  John  Philips  of  Mineral 
Point  Wis.  and  ofWm.  Philips  his  brother.  I  think 
we  got  a  hundred  pounds  of  flour  and  a  quantity  of  ba- 
con and  some  other  things.  I  had  some  money  which 
I  had  received  for  my  horse  sold  to  Dallas,  but  as  the 
others  had  none  I  paid  for  it  all,  and  told  Hazelrig  to 
take  the  ponies  and  go  back  to  camp  wath  a  share  of 
the  provisions  and  do  the  best  he  could.  I  had  now 
ray  own  gun  and  ammunition,  with  some  clothing 
and  other  items  which  I  had  prepared  in  Wisconsin 
before  I  started  after  my  Winnebago  pony,  and  I 
felt  I  ought  to  share  the  money  I  had  with  the  other 
boys  to  help  them  as  best  I  could.  I  felt  that  I  was 
pretty  well  fixed  and  had  nothing  to  fear. 

Mr.  Bennett  told  me  much  of  the  trip  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Platte.  He  said  they  had  some  cholera,  of 
which  a  few  people  died,  and  related  how  the  outer  if 
not  the  inner  nature  of  the  men  changed  as  they  left 
civilization,  law  and  the  courts  behind  them.  vSome 
who  had  been  raised  together,  and  lived  together  all 
their  lives  without  discord  or  trouble,  who  were  con- 
sidered model  men  at  home  and  just  the  right  people 
to  be  connected  with  in  such  an  expedition,  seemed  to 
change  their  character  entirely  out  on  these  wild 
wastes.  When  anything  excited  their  displeasure 
their  blood  boiled  over,  and  only  the  interference  of 
older  and  wiser  heads  on  man}'  occasions  prevented 
bloodshed.  Some  dis.«olved  the  solemn  contract  they 
had  made  to  travel  together  systematically  and  in  order 
and  to  stand,  by,  even    unto  death,    and    when    thev 


I04  DEATH  VALLEY. 

reached  the  upper  Platte,  the  journey  only  half  over, 
talked  of  going  back,  or  splitting  up  the  outfit  and 
join  others  they  had  taken  a  fancy  to.  Some  who 
could  not  agree  upon  a  just  division  of  a  joint  outfit, 
thinking  one  party  was  trying  to  cheat,  would  not  yield 
but  would  cut  their  wagons  in  two  lengthwise  just  for 
spite  so  that  no  carts  could  be  made  and  the  whole  ve- 
hicle spoiled  for  both  parties.  The  ugh'  disagreements 
were  many  and  the  cloven  foot  was  shown  in  man}- 
ways.  Guns  were  often  drawn  and  pointed  but  some 
one  would  generally  interfere  and  prevent  bloodshed. 
Others  were  honest  and  law  abiding  to  the  last  de- 
gree beyond  law  and  churches,  and  would  act  as  har- 
moniously as  at  home,  obeying  their  chosen  captain 
in  the  smallest  particular  without  any  grumbling  or 
dissension,  doing  to  every  one  as  they  would  be  done 
by.  These  were  the  pride  of  the  train.  The  trains 
were  most  of  them  organized,  and  all  along  the  river 
bottom  one  was  hardly  ever  out  of  sight  of  some  of  the 
wagons,  all  going  west.  Buffalo  and  antelope  were 
plenty  and  in  great  droves,  followed  always  by  wolves 
great  and  small,  who  were  on  the  lookout  for  crippled 
or  dead  animals  with  which  to  fill  their  hungry  stom- 
achs. Buffalo  meat  was  plent}-  and  much  enjoyed 
while  passing  this  section  of  the  road  and  this  oppor- 
tunity of  replenishing,  enabled  the  stock  to  last  them 
over  more  desolate  regions  where  game  was  scarce. 

After  Bennett  had  told  his  stories,  and  I  had  related 
more  of  our  own  close  escapes  I  began  to  ask  him  why 
he  went  this  way  which  seemed  to  be  very  circuitous 
and  much  longer  than  the  way  they  had  first  intended 
to  go.  He  said  that  it  was  too  late  in  the. season  to 
go  the  straight-road  safel}',  for  there  was  yet  700  miles 
of  bad  country  to  cross  and  do  the  best  they  could  it 
would  be  at  the  commencement  of  the  rainy  season 
before  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains  could  be  reached 


DEATH  VALLEY.  105 

and  in  those  mountains  there  was  often  a  snow  fall  of 
20  feet  or  more,  and  anyone  caught  in  it  would  surely 
perish.  If  they  tried  to  winter  at  the  base  of  the 
mountains  it  was  a  long  way  to  get  provisions,  and  no 
assurance  of  wild  game,  and  this  course  was  con- 
sidered ver}'  hazardous  for  any  one  to  undertake. 
This  they  had  learned  after  consulting  mount- 
aineers and  others  who  knew  about  the  regions,  and 
as  there  was  nothing  doing  among  the  Latter  Day 
Saints  to  give  employment  to  any  one,  it  was  decided 
best  to  keep  moving  and  go  the  southern  route  b^• 
way  of  Los  Angeles.  No  wagons  were  reported  as 
ever  getting  through  that  wa}',  but  a  trail  had  been 
traveled  through  that  barren  desert  country  for  per- 
haps a  hundred  years,  and  the  same  could  be  easily 
broadened  into    a   wagon  road. 

After  days  of  argument  and  camp-fire  talks,  this 
Southern  route  was  agreed  upon,  and  Capt.  Hunt  was 
chosen  as  guide.  Capt.  Hunt  was  a  Mormon,  and 
had  more  than  one  wife,  but  he  had  convinced  them 
that  he  knew  something  about  the  load.  Each  agreed 
to  give  him  ten  dollars  to  pilot  the  train  to  San 
Bernardino  where  the  Mormon  Church  had  bought  a 
Spanish  grant  of  land,  and  no  doubt  they  thought  a 
wagon  road  to  that  place  would  benefit  them  greatly, 
and  probably  ga\-e  much  encouragement  for  the 
parties  to  travel  this  way.  It  was  undoubtedly  safer 
than  the  northern  mountain  route  at  this  season  of  the 
year.  It  seemed  at  least  to  be  a  new  venture  for 
west-bound  emigrant  trains,  at  least  as  to  ultimate 
success,  for  we  had  no  knowledge  of  any  that  had 
gone   through    safely. 

Some  western  people  remembered  the  history  of  the 
Mormons  in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  their  doings 
there,  feared  somewhat  for  their  own  safety  now  that 
they    were   so  completely  under  their  power,  for  they 


io6  DEATH  VALLEY. 

knew  the  Mormons  to  be  revengeful  and  it  was  con- 
sidered ver}-  unsafe  for  any  traveler  to  acknowledge 
he  was  from  Missouri.  Manj-  a  one  who  had  been 
born  there,  and  lived  there  all  his  life,  would  promptly 
claim  some  other  state  as  his  native  place.  I  heard 
one  Mormon  say  that  there  were  some  Missourians  on 
the  plains  that  would  never  reach  California.  "They 
used  us  bad,"  said  he,  and  his  face  took  on  a  really 
murderous  look. 

These  Mormons  at  Salt  Lake  were  situated  as  if  on 
an  island  in  the  sea,  and  no  eneni}'  could  reach  anv 
adjoining  state  or  territory-  if  Brigham  Young's  band 
of  destroying  angels  were  only  warned  to  look  after 
them. 

At  a  late  hour  that  night  we  lay  down  to  sleep,  and 
morning  came  clear  and  bright.  After  breakfast  Mr. 
Bennett  said  tome: — "Now  Lewis  I  want  you  to  go 
wath  me;  I  have  two  wagons  and  two  drivers  and  four 
yoke  of  good  oxen  and  plenty  of  provisions.  I  have 
your  outfit  yet,  your  gun  and  ammunition  and  }-our 
two  good  hickory  shirts  which  are  just  in  time  for 
>our present  needs.  You  need  not  do  any  work.  You 
just  look  around  and  kill  what  game  you  can  for  us, 
and  this  will  help  as  much  as  anything,  you  can  do. ' '  I 
was,  of  course  glad  to  accept  thi.s  offer,  and  thanks  to 
Mr.  Bennett's  kind  care  of  my  outfit,  was  better  fixed 
then  any  of  the  other  boys. 

We  inquired  around  among  the  other  wagons  as  to 
their  supply  of  flour  and  bacon;  and  succeeded  to 
getting  flour  from  Mr.  Philips  and  bacon  from  some 
of  the  others,  as  much  as  we  supposed  the  other  bo3's 
would  need,  which  I  paid  for,  and  when  this  was 
loaded  on  the  two  colt,s  Hazelrig  started  back  alone 
to  the  boys  in  camp.  As  I  was  so  well  provided  for 
I  gave  him  all  my  money  for  they  might  need  some, 
and   I  did    not: 


DEATH  VALLEY.  107 

The  wagons  which  composed  the  intended  train 
were  very  much  scattered  about,  having  moved  out 
from  Salt  Lake  at  pleasure,  and  it  was  said  to  be  too 
early  to  make  the  start  on  the  southern  route,  for  the 
weather  on  the  hot,  barren  desert  was  said  to  grow 
cooler  a  little  later  in  the  season,  and  it  was  only  at 
this  cool  season  that  the  south  west  part  of  the  desert 
could  be  crossed  in  safety.  The  scattering  members  of 
the  train  began  to  congregate,  and  Capt.  Hunt  said  it 
was  necessary  to  have  some  sort  of  system  about  the 
move,  and  that  before  they  moved  they  must  or- 
ganize and  adopt  rules  and  laws  which  must  be 
obeyed.  He  said  they  must  move  like  an  army,  and 
that  he  was  to  be  a  dictator  in  all  things  except 
that  in  case  of  necessity  a  majority  of  the  train  could 
rule  otherwise.  It  was  thought  best  to  get  together 
and  try  a  march  out  one  day,  then  go  in  camp  and 
organize. 

This  they  did,  and  at  the  camp  there  wa^  gathered 
one  hundred  and  seven  wagons,  a  big  drove  of  horses 
and  cattle,  perhaps  five  hundred  in  all.  The  train 
was  divided  into  seven  divisions  and  each  di\-isior\ 
was  to  elect  its  own  captain.  Division  No.  i  shoulc' 
lead  the  march  the  first  day,  and  their  men  should 
take  charge  of  the  stock  and  deliver  them  to  the 
wagons  in  the  morning,  and  then  No.  i  should  take 
the  rear,  with  No.  2  in  the  lead  to  break  the  road- 
The  rear  division  would  not  turn  a  wheel  before  10 
o'clock  the  next  day,  and  it  would  be  about  that  time 
at  night  before  they  were  in  camp  and  unyoked.  The 
numbers  of  animals  cleaned  out  the  feed  for  a  mile  or 
two  each  side  of  the  camp  and  a  general  meeting  was 
called  for  the  organization  of  the  whole.  Mr.  L. 
Granger  got  up  so  he  could  look  over  the  audience 
and  proceeded  to  explain  the  plan  and  to  read  a 
preamble  and  resolutions  which  had  been  prepared  as 


io8 


DEATH  VALLEY. 


the  basis  for  government.  I  remember  that  it  begun 
thus: — "This  Organization  shall  be  known  and  des- 
ignated as  the  Sand  Walking  Company,  and  shall 
consist  of  seven  divisions  etc, ' '  detailing  the 
manner  of  marching  as  we  have  recited.  Capt  J. 
Hunt  w^as  chosen  commander  and  guide,  and  his 
orders  must  be  obeyed.  All  possible  trouble  that  w^e 
could  imagine  might  come  was  provided  against  in 
our  written  agreement,  and  all  promised  to  live  up  to 
it. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  lo^ 


CHAPTER  IX. 

We  moved  off  in  good  st3'le  from  this  camp.  After 
a  day  or  two  and  before  we  reached  what  is  called  Little 
Salt  Lake,  an  attempt  was  made  to  make  a  short  cut, 
to  save  distance.  The  train  onh'  went  on  this  cut  off 
a  day  or  two  when  Capt.  Hunt  came  back  from  the 
front  and  said  they  had  better  turn  back  to  the  old 
trail  again,  which  all  did.  This  was  a  bad  move, 
the  train  much  broken  and  not  easy  to  get  them  into 
regular  working  order  again.  We  were  now  ap- 
proaching what  they  called  the  Rim  of  the  Basin. 
Within  the  basin  the  water  all  ran  to  the  north  or 
toward  Great  vSalt  Lake,  but  when  we  crossed  the  rim, 
all  was  toward  the  Colorado  River,  through  which  it 
reached  the  Pacific  Ocean.  About  this  time  we  were 
overtaken  by  another  train  commanded  by  Capt. 
Smith.  They  had  a  map  with  them  made  by  one* 
Williams  of  Salt  I^ake  a  mountaineer  who  was  repre- 
sented to  know  all  the  routes  through  all  the 
mountains  of  Utah,  and  this  map  showed  a  way  to 
turn  off  from  the  southern  route  not  far  from  the 
divide  which  separated  the  waters  of  the  basin  from 
those  which  flowed  toward  the  Colorado,  and  pass 
over  the  mountains,  coming  out  in  what  they  called 
Tulare  valley,    much  nearer  than  by  Los  Angeles. 

This  map  was  quite  frequently  exhibited  and  the  mat- 
ter freely  discussed  in  camp,  indeed  speeches  were  made 
in  the  interest  of  the  cut-off  route  which  was  to  be  so 
much  shorter.  A  clergyman,  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Brier, 
was  very  enthusiastic  about  this  matter  and  dis- 
9aused  learnedly  and  plausibly  about  it.  The  more 
the  matter  was  talked  about  the  more  there  were  who 
were  converted   to   the   belief    that   the    short    road 


no  DEATH  VALLEY. 

would  be  the  best.  The  map  showed  everj-  camp  on 
the  road  and  showed  where  there  was  water  and  grass, 
and  as  to  obstacles  to  the  wagons  it  was  thought  they 
could  easih-  be  overcome.  A  general  meeting  was 
called  for  better  consideration  of  the  question.  Capt. 
Hunt  said:  "You  all  know  I  was  hired  to  go  by  way 
of  Los  Angeles,  but  if  3^ou  all  wish  to  go  and  follow 
Smith  I  will  go  also.  But  if  even  one  w^agon  decides 
to  go  the  original  route,  I  shall  feel  bound  to  go  with 
that  wagon. ' ' 

A  great  many  were  anxious  to  get  the  opinion  of 
Capt.  Hunt  on  the  feasibility  of  the  new  route  for  he 
was  a  mountain  man  and  could  probablj-  give  us  some 
good  advice.  He  finally  consented  to  talk  of  it,  and 
said  he  really  knew  no  more  then  the  others  about 
this  particular  route,  but  he  ver}^  much  doubted  if  a 
white  man  ever  went  o^^er  it,  and  that  he  did  not  con- 
sider it  at  all  safe  for  those  who  had  wives  and 
'children  in  their  company  to  take  the  unknown  road. 
Young  men  who  had  no  family  could  possibly  get 
through,  and  save  time  even  if  the  road  was  not  as 
good  as  Los  Angeles  road.  But  said  he  "If  you  de- 
cide to  follow  Smith  I  will  go  will  go  with  you,  even 
if  the  road  leads  to  Hell." 

On  the  route  from  near  Salt  Lake  to  this  point  we 
found  the  country  to  grow  more  barren  as  we  pro- 
gressed. The  grass  was  thinner,  and  sage  brush  took 
the  place  of  timber.  Our  road  took  us  in  sight  of 
Sevier  Lake,  and  also,  while  going  through  the  low 
hills,  passed  Little  vSalt  Lake,  which  was  almost  dry, 
with  a  beach  around  it  almost  as  white  as  snow.  It 
might  have  had  a  little  more  the  dignity  of  a  lake  in 
wet  weather,  but  it  was  a  rather  drj^  affair  as  we  saw 
it. 

At  one  point  on  this  route  we  came  into  a  long  narrow 
valley,  well  covered  with  sage  brush,    and   before    we 


DEATH  VAT.LEY.  iir 

had  gone  very  far  we  discovered  that  this  was  a   great 
place  for  long  eared  rabbits,  we  would  call   them  Jack 
Rabbits  now.     Every  one   who  had  a  gun  put  it  into 
service  on  this  occassion,  and  there  was  much  popping 
and  shooting   on   every  side.     Great  clouds  of  smoke 
rolled  up  as  the  hunters  advanced  and  the  rabbits    ran 
in    every   direction    to    get   away.      Many    ran    right 
among  the  horses,  and  under  the  feet  of  the  cattle  and 
under   the  wagons,  so  that  the  teamsters  even  killed 
some  with  a  whip.     At  the  end  of  the  valley  we  went 
into   camp,    and  on    counting  up   the  game  found  we 
had  over  500,  or  about  one  for   every  person  in  camp. 
This   gave   us    a   feast  of    fresh  meat  not  often  found. 
It  was   on   this   trip   that  one  of  Mr.  Bennett's  ox 
drivers  was  taken  with  a  serious  bowel   difficulty,  and 
for    many    days    we  thought     he    would  die,  but  he 
eventually    recovered.     His   name  was  vSilas  Helmer. 
It  was  really  a  serious  moment  when  the  front  of  the 
train    reached   the   Smith    trail.     Team     after    team 
turned  to  the  right  while  now  and  then  one  would  keep 
straight  ahead   as  was  at  first  intended.     Capt.    Hunt 
came  over  to   the    larger    party  after  the  division  was 
made,    and    wished  them    all    a  hearty  farewell  and  a 
pleasant   happy  journey.      My    friend  Bennett  whose 
fortune    I    shared    was    among  the   seceders  who  fol- 
lowed the  Smith  party.     This  point,  when    our   paths 
diverged   was   very    near   the   place   afterward    made 
notorious  as    Mountain    Meadows,    where  the  famous 
massacre  took    place    under     the     direction     of    the 
Mormon  generals.     Our   route    from  here   up    to  the 
mountain  was  a  very  pleasant  one,  steadily  up   grade, 
over   rolling  hills,    with    wood,    water   and   grass  in 
plenty.     We   came  at  last  to  what  seemed  the  summit 
of    a  great  mountain,  about  three  days  journey  on  the 
new  trail.     Juniper  trees  grew    about  in  bunches,  and 
my  experience    with    this  timber    taught  me  that  we 


112  DEATH  VAIvLEV. 

were   on   elevated   ground. 

Immediately  in  front  of  us  was  a  cailon,  impassible 
for  wagons,  and  down  into  this  the  trail  descended. 
Men  could  go,  horses  and  mules,  perhaps,  but  wagons 
could  no  longer  follow  that  trail,  and  we  proposed  to 
camp  while  explorers  were  sent  out  to  search  a  pass 
across  this  steep  and  rocky  cafion.  Wood  and  bunch 
grass  were  plenty,  but  water  was  a  long  way  down 
the  trail  and  had  to  be  packed  up  to  the  camp.  Two 
days  passed,  and  the  parties  sent  out  began  to  come 
in,  all  reporting  no  way  to  go  farther  with  the  wagons. 
Some  said  the  trail  on  the  west  side  of  the  canon 
could  be  ascended  on  foot  b}'  both  men  and  mules, 
but  that  it  would  take  years  to  make  it  fit  for  wheels. 

The  enthusiasm  about  the  Smith  cut-off  had  begun  to 
die  and  now  the  talk  began  of  going  back  to  follow  Hunt. 
On  the  third  morning  a  lone  traveler  with  a  small 
wagon  and  one  3'oke  of  oxen,  died.  He  seemed  to  be 
on  this  journey  to  seek  to  regain  his  health.  He  was 
from  Kentucky,  but  I  have  forgotten  his  name. 
Some  were  very  active  about  his  wagon  and,  some 
thought  too  much  attention  was  paid  to  a  stranger. 
He  was  decently    buried  by  the  men  of  the    company. 

This  vers'  morning  a  Mr.  Rynlerson  called  the  at- 
tention of  the  crowd  and  made  some  remarks  upon 
the  situation.  He  said:  "My  family  is  near  and  dear 
to  me.  I  can  see  by  the  growth  of  the  timber  that 
we  are  in  a  ver}-  elevated  place.  This  is  now  the 
seventh  of  November,  it  being  the  fourth  at  the  time 
of  our  turning  off  on  this  trail.  We  are  evidently-  in 
a  country  where  snow  is  liable  to  fall  at  an}"  time  in 
the  winter  season,  and  if  we  were  to  remain  here  and 
be  caught  in  a  severe  storm  we  should  all  probably 
perish.  I,  for  one,  feel  in  duty  bound  to  seek  a  safer 
way  than  this.  I  shall  hitch  up  my  oxen  and  return 
at  once  to  the  old  trail.      Boys  (to  his  teamsters)    get 


DEATH  VALLEY.  -113 

the  cattle  and  we'll  return.  "  This  was  decisiv^e,  and 
Mr.  Rynierson  would  tarry  no  longer.  Many  others 
now  proceeded  to  get  ready  and  follow,  and  as  Mr. 
Rynierson  drove  out  of  camp  quite  a  respectable  train 
fell  in  behind  him.  As  fast  as  the  hunters  came  in 
and  reported  no  road  available,  they  also  yoked  up 
their  oxen  and  rolled  out.  Some  waited  awhile 
or  companions  yet  in  the  fields,  and  all  were  about 
ready  to  move,  when  a  party  came  in  with  news  that 
the  pass  was  found  and  no  trouble  could  be  seen 
ahead.  About  twenty-seven  wagons  remained  when 
this  news  came,  and  as  their  proprietors  had  brought 
good  news  they  agreed  to  travel  on  westward  and  not 
go  back  to  the  old  trail. 

Mr.  Bennett  had  gone  only  a  short  distance  out  when 
he  had  the  misfortune  to  break  the  axle  of  his  wagon 
and  he  then  went  back  to  camp  and  took  an  axle  out 
of  the  dead  man's  wagon  and  by  night  had  it  fitted 
into  his  own.  He  had  to  stay  until  morning,  and 
there  were  still  a  few  others  who  were  late  in  getting  a 
start,  who  camped  there  also.  x\mong  these  were 
J.  B.  Arcane,  wife  and  child;  two  Earhart  brothers 
and     sons     and     some     two  or  three  other  wagons. 

When  all  was  ready  we  followed  the  others  who  had 
gone  ahead.  The  route  led  at  first  directly  to  the 
north  and  a  p  asswas  said  to  be  in  that  direction.  Of 
the  Oreen  River  party  only  Rodgers  and  myself  re- 
mained with  this  train.  After  the  wagons  straightened 
out  nicely,  a  meeting  was  called  to  organize,  so  as  to 
travel  systematically.  A  feeling  was  very  manifest 
that  those  without  any  families  did  not  care  to  bind 
themselves  to  stand  by  and  assist  those  who  had 
wives  and  children  in  their  party  and  there  was  con- 
siderable debate,  which  resulted  in  all  the  family 
wagons  being  left  out  of  the  arrangements. 

A  party  who  called  themselves  "The    Jay  hawkers" 


1 1 4.  DEATH  YALLEY. 

passed  us,  and  we  followed  along  in  the  rear,  over 
rolling  hills  covered  with  juniper  timber,  and  small 
grassy  valleys  between  where  there  was  plenty  of  water 
and  went  well,  for  those  before  us  had  broken  out  the 
road  so  we  could  roll  along   very   pleasantly. 

At  the  organization  Jim  Martin  was  chosen  captain. 
Those  who  were  rejected  were  Rev.  J.  W.  Brier  and, 
his  family,  J.  B.  Arcane  and  family,  and  Mr.  A. 
Bennett  and  family,  Mr.  Brier  would  not  stay  put 
out,  but  forced  himself  in,  and  said  he  was  going 
with  the  re.3t,  and  so  he  did.  But  the  other  families 
remained  behind.  I  attended  the  meeting  and  heard 
what  was  said,  but  Mr.  Bennett  was  my  friend  and 
had  been  faithful  to  me  and  my  property  when  he 
knew  not  where  I  was,  and  so  I  decided  to  stand  by 
him  and   his   wife  at  all  hazards. 

As  I  had  no  team  to  drive  I  took  every  opportunity 
to  climb  the  mountains  along  the  route,  reaching  the 
highest  elevations  even  if  they  were  several  miles  from 
the  trail.  I  sometimes  remained  out  all  night.  I 
took  Mr.  Arcane 's  field  glass  with  me  and  was  thus 
able  to  see  all  there  was  of  the  country.  I  soon  be- 
came satisfied  that  going  north  was  not  taking  us  in 
the  direction  we  ought  to  go.  I  frequently  told  them 
so,  but  they  still  persisted  in  following  on.  I  went 
to  the  leaders  and  told  them  we  were  going  back 
toward  Salt  Lake  again,  not  making  any  headway  to- 
ward California.  They  insisted  they  were  following  the 
directions  of  Williams,  the  mountaineer;  and  they  had 
not  yet  got  as  far  north  as  he  indicated.  I  told  them, 
and  Mr.  Bennett  and  others,  that  we  must  either  turn 
west,  or  retrace  our  steps  and  get  back  into  the 
regular  Los  Angeles  road  again.  In  the  morning  we 
held  another  consultation  and  decided  to  turn  west 
kere,  and  leave  the  track  we  had  been  following. 

Off  we  turned  at  nearly  right  angles  to  our  former 


DEATH  VALLEY.  115 

course,  to  the  west  now,  over  a  piece  of  table  land 
that  gave  us  little  trouble  in  breaking  our  own  road. 
When  we  camped,  the  oxen  seemed  very  fond  of  a  white 
weed  that  was  very  plenty,  and  some  borrowed  a  good 
deal  of  trouble  thinking  that  perhaps  it  might  be 
poison.  I  learned  afterwards  that  this  plant  was  the 
nutritious  whiie  sage,  which  cattle  eat  freely,  with 
good  results.  We  now  crossed  a  low  range  and  a 
small  creek  running  south,  and  here  were  also  some 
springs.  Some  corn  had  been  grown  here  by  the 
Indians.  Pillars  of  sand  stone,  fifteen  feet  high  and 
very  slim  were  round  about  in  several  places  and 
looked  strange  enough.  The  next  piece  of  table  land 
sloped  to  the  east,  and  among  the  sage  grew  also  a 
bunch  grass  a  foot  high,  which  had  seeds  like  broom - 
corn  seeds.  The  Indians  had  gathered  the  grass  and 
made  it  in  piles  of  one  hundred  pounds  or  so,  and 
used  it  for  food  as  I  found  by  examining  their  camps. 

One  da>'  I  climbed  a  high  mountain  where  some  pine 
grew,  in  order  to  get  a  view  of  the  country.  As  I 
neared  its  base  I  came  to  a  flat  rock,  perhaps  fifty  feet 
square.  I  heard  some  pounding  noise  as  I  came  near, 
but  what  ever  it  was,  it  ceased  on  my  approach. 
There  were  many  signs  of  the  rock  being  used  as  a 
camp,  such  as  pine  burrs,  bones  of  various  kinds  of 
animals,  and  othei  remains  of  food  which  lay  every 
where  about  and  on  the  rock.  Near  the  center  was  a 
small  oblong  stone  iitted  into  a  hole.  I  took  it  out 
and  found  it  covered  a  fine  well  of  water  about  three 
feet  deep  and  was  thus  protected  against  any  small 
animal  being  drowned  in  it.  I  went  on  up  the 
mountain  and  from  the  top  I  saw  that  the  land  west 
of  us  looked  more  and  more  barren. 

The  second  night  the  brave  Jayhawkers  who  had 
been  .so  firm  in  going  north  hove  in  .^ight  in  our  rear. 
They  had  at  last  concluded  to  accept  my  advice  and  had 


ii6  DEATH  VALLEY. 

came  over  our  road  quite  rapidly.  We  all  camped  to- 
gether that  night,  and  next  morning  the}'  took  the  lead 
again.  After  crossing  a  small  range  they  came  to  a 
basin  which  seemed  to  have  no  outlet,  and  was  very 
barren.  Some  of  the  boys  in  advance  of  the  teams 
had  passed  over  this  elevation  and  were  going  quite 
rapidly  over  the  almost  level  plain  which  sloped  into 
the  basin,  when  they  saw  among  the  bunches  of  sage 
brush  behind  them  a  small  party  of  Indians  following 
their  road,  not  very  far  off,  bat  still  out  of  bow  and 
arrow  range.  The  boj-s  were  suddenly  able  to  take 
much  longer  steps  than  usual  and  a  little  more  rapidly 
too,  and  swinging  round  toward  the  teams  as  soon  as 
possible,  for  they  already  had  some  fears  that  an 
arrow  might  be  stickirg  in  their  backs  in  an  un- 
pleasantly short  space  of  time,  for  the  Indians  were 
good  travelers.  When  they  came  in  sight  of  the 
wagons,  the  Indians  vanished  as  quickly  as  if  they 
had  gone  into  a  hole,  with  no  sign  remaining,  except 
a  small  d^g  which  greatly  resembled  a  prairie  wolf,  and 
kept  a  safe  distance  away.  No  one  could  imagine 
where  the  fellows  went  so  suddenly. 

We  drove  to  the  west  side  of  this  basin  and  camped 
near  the  foot  of  a  low  mountain.  The  cattle  were 
driven  down  into  the  basin  where  there  was  .some 
grass,  but  at  camp  we  had  only  the  water  in  our  kegs. 

Some  of  the  boys  climbed  the  mountain  on  the 
north  but  foimd  no  springs:  Coming  down  a  canon 
the}'  found  some  rain  water  in  a  basin  in  the  rocks 
and  all  took  a  good  drink.  Lew  West  lay  down  and 
swallowed  all  he  coLild  and  then  told  the  boys  to  kill 
him  for  he  never  would  feel  so  good  again.  They 
finished  the  pool,  it  was  so  small,  before  they  left  it. 
In  going  on  down  the  canon  they  saw  an  Indian 
dodge  behind  some  big  rocks,  and  searching,  they 
found  him    in  a  cave  as   still  as  a  dead  man.     They 


DEATH  VALLEY.  117 

pulled  him  out  aud  made  him  go  with  them,  and  tried 
ever}'  way  to  find  out  from  him  where  the}^  were  and 
where  Owen's  Lake  was,  as  they  had  been  told  the 
lake  was  on  their  route.  But  he  proved  to  be  no 
wiser  than  a  man  of  mud,  and  they  led  him  along  to 
camp,  put  a  red  flannel  shirt  on  him  to  cover  his 
nakedness,  and  male  him  sleep  between  tsvo  white 
men  so  he  could  not  get  away  easilj-.  In  the  morn- 
ing they  were  more  successful,  and  he  showed  us  a 
small  ravine  four  miles  away  which  had  water  in  it, 
enough  for  our  use,  and  we  moved  up  and  camped 
there,  while  the  boys  and  the  Indian  started  over  a 
barren,  rocky  mountain,  and  when  over  on  the 
western  slope  they  were  led  to  a  water  hole  on  a  steep 
rocky  cliff  where  no  one  but  an  Indian  would  ever 
think  of  looking  for  water.  They  took  out  their  cups 
and  had  a  good  drink  all  around,  then  offeied  the 
Indian  some,  but  he  disdained  the  cizilized  way,  and 
laying  down  his  bow  and  arrows  took  a  long  drink 
directly  out  of  the  pool.  He  was  so  long  in  getting  a 
good  supply  that  the  boys  almost  forgot  him  as  they 
were  gazing  over  the  distant  mountain  and  discussing 
prospects,  till  attracted  by  a  slight  noise  they  looked 
and  saw  Mr.  Indian  going  down  over  the  cliffs  after 
the  fashion  of  a  mountain  sheep,  and  in  a  few  bounds 
he  was  out  of  sight.  They  could  not  have  killed  him 
if  they  had  tried,  the  move  so  sudden  and  un- 
looked  for.  They  had  expected  the  fellow  to  show 
them  the  way  to  Owen's  lake,  but  now  their  guide 
was  gone,  and  left  nothing  to  remem])er  him  i)y  except 
his  bow  and  arrows.  vSo  they  returned  to  their 
wagons   not  much    wiser  than  before. 

All  kinds  of  game  was  now  very  scarce,  and  .so 
seldon  seen  that  the  men  got  tired  of  carrying  their  guns, 
and  grew  fearless  of  enemies.  A  heavy  rifle  was 
indeed  burdensome  over  so  long  a  road    when   there 


ii8  DEATH  VALLEY. 

was  no  frequent  use  for  it.  The  party  kept  rolling- 
along  as  fast  as  possible  but  the  mountains  and 
valle5-s  grew  more  barren  and  water  more  scarce  all 
the  time.  When  found,  the  water  would  be  in  hole 
at  the  outlet  of  some  canon,  or  in  little  pools  which 
had  filled  up  with  rain  that  had  fallen  on  the  higher 
ground.  Not  a  drop  of  rain  had  fallen  on  us  since 
we  stared  on  this  cut-oflF.  and  every  night  was  clear 
and  warm.  The  elevated  parts  of  the  country  seemed 
to  be  isolated  buttes,  with  no  running  streams  between 
them  but  instead,  dry  lakes  with  a  smooth  cla}'  bed, 
very  light  in  color  and  so  hard  that  the  track  of  an 
ox  could  not  be  seen  on  its  glittering  surface.  At  a 
distance  those  claj-  beds  looked  like  water  shining 
in  the  sun  and  were  generally  about  three  times  as 
far  as  an}'  one  would  judge,  the  air  was  so  clear.  This 
mirage,  or  resemblance  to  water  was  so  perfect  as  often 
to  deceive  us,  and  almost  to  our  ruin  on  one  or  two 
occasions. 

I  took  Arcane 's  field  glass  and  took  pains  to  ascend 
all  the  high  buttes  within  a  day's  walk  of  the  road, 
and  this  enabled  me  to  get  a  good  survey  of  the 
country  north  and  west.  I  would  sometimes  be 
gone  two  or  three  days  with  no  luggage  but  mj^  can- 
teen and  gnu.  I  was  very  cautious  in  regard  to 
Indians,  and  tried  to  keep  on  the  safe  side  of  surprises. 
I  would  build  a  fire  about  dark  and  then  travel  on  till 
I  came  to  a  small  washed  place  and  lie  down  and  stay 
till  morning,  so  if  Mr.  Indian  did  come  to  my  fire  he 
would  not  find  any  one  to  kill.  One  day  I  was  going 
up  a  wide  ravine  leading  to  the  summit,  and  before  I 
reached  the  highest  part  I  saw  a  smoke  curl  up  be- 
fore me.  I  took  a  side  ravine  and  went  cautiously, 
bowed  down  prett}'  low  so  no  one  could  see  me,  and 
when  near  the  top  of  the  ridge  and  about  one  hundred 
yards    of  the    fire    I   ventured  to  raise  slowly  up  and 


DEATH  VALLEY.  119 

take  a  look  to  see    how    many  there  were  in  camp:     I 
could  see    but  two  and  as  I  looked    across  the    ravine 
an  Indian  woman  seemed  looking  at  me  also,   but  I 
w^as  so  low  she  could  only  see  the  top  of  my  head,  and 
I  sank  down    again    out  of  sight.     I  crawled  further 
up  so  as  to  get  a  better  view,  and  when  1  straightened 
up  again  she  got  a  full    view  of  me.     She  instantly 
caught  her  infant  off  its  little  pallet  made    of  a  small 
piece  of  thin   wood  covered  with  a  rabbit  skin,    and 
putting  the   baby   under  one  arm,  and  giving  a  smart 
jerk  to  a  small  girl    that  was  crying  to  the  top  of  her 
voice,  she  bounded  off  and  fairh'  flew  up   the  gentle 
slope  toward  the  summit,  the  girl  following  after  verj- 
close.     The  woman's  long  black  hair  stood  out  as  she 
rushed  along,  looking  over  her  shoulder  every  instant 
as   if  she    expected  to  be  slain.     The  mother    flying 
with  her  children,  untrammeled  with  any  of  the  arts 
of  fashion  was  the  best  natural  picture  I  ever  looked 
upon,    and  wild    in  the     extreme.     No  living    artist 
could  do  justice  to  the  scene  as  the  lady  of  the  desert, 
her    little    daughter  and  her  babe,    passed   over   the 
summit  out  of  sight.      I  followed,  but  when  I  reached 
the   highest  summit,   no  living  person  could  be  seen. 
I  looked  the  country  over  with  my  glass.     The  region 
to  the  north  was  black    rocky,  and  very  mountainous. 
I  looked  some  time  and  then  concluded  I   had  better 
not   go  any  further  that  way,   for  I  might  be  waylaid 
and    filled    with  arrows  at  some  unsuspected  moment. 
We  saw  Indian  signs  almost  every  day,   but  as  none  of 
them  ever  came  to  cur  camp  it  was  safe  to   say    the}- 
were  not  friendly.      I  now  turned  back  and    examined 
the  Indian  woman's  camp.     She  had  only  fire  enough 
to  make    a   smoke.      Her  conical    shaped    basket    left 
behind,  contained  a  few^  poor  arrows  and  some  cactus 
leaves,   from  which  the  spines  had  been    burned,  and 
there  lay  the  little  pallet  where  the  baby  was  sleeping. 
It  was  a  bare  looking  kitchen  for  hungry  folks. 


I20  DEATH  VALLEY. 

I  now  went  to  the  top  of  a  high  butte  and  scanned 
the  country  very  carefully,  especially  to  the  west  and 
north,  and  found  it  very  barren.  There  were  no  trees, 
no  fertile  valleys  nor  anything  green.  Away  to  the 
west  some  mountains  stood  out  clear  and  plain,  their 
summits  covered  white  with  snow.  This  I  decided 
was  our  objective  point:  Very  little  snow  could  be 
seen  elsewhere,  and  becween  me  and  the  snowy 
mountains  lay  a  low,  black  rocky  range,  and  a  wide 
level  plain,  that  had  no  signs  of  water,  as  I  had 
learned  them  in  our  trip  thus  far  across  the  country. 
The  black  range  seemed  to  run  nearly  north  and  south, 
and  to  the  north  and  northwest  the  country  looked 
volcanic,  black  and    desolate. 

As  I  looked  and  thought,  I  believed  that  we  were 
much  farther  from  a  fertile  region  then  most  of  our 
party  had  any  idea  of.  Such  of  them  as  had  read 
Fremont's  travels,  and  most  of  them  going  to  Cali- 
fornia had  fortified  themselves  before  starting  b}- 
reading  Fremont;  said  that  the  mountains  were  near 
California  and  were  fertile  from  their  very  summits 
down  to  the  sea,  but  that  to  the  east  of  the  mountains 
it  was  a  desert  region  for  hundred  of  miles.  As  I  ex- 
plained it  to  them,  and  so  they  soon  saw  for  themselves, 
they  believed  that  the  snowy  range  ahead  of  us  was  the 
last  range  to  cross  before  we  entered  the  long-sought 
California,  and  it  seemed  not  far  off,  and  prospect 
quite  encouraging. 

Our  road  had  been  winding  around  among  the 
buttes  which  looked  like  the  Indian  baskets  turned 
upside  down  on  the  great  barren  plain.  What  water 
we  found  was  in  small  pools  in  the  wash-out  places 
near  the  foothills  at  the  edge  of  the  valley,  probably 
running  down  the  ravines  after  some  storm.  There 
were  dry  lake  beds  scattered  around  over  the  plain, 
but  it  did  not  seem  as  if  there  had  ever    been  volume 


DEATH  VALLEY  121 

of  water  enough  lately  to  force  itself  out  so  far  into 
the  plain  as  these  lakes  were.  All  the  lakes  appeared 
about  the  same,  the  bed  white  and  glistening"  in  the 
sun,  which  made  it  verj'  hard  for  the  eyes,  and  so 
that  a  man  in  passing  over  it  made  no  visible  track. 
It  looked  as  if  it  one  time  might  have  been  a  smooth  bed 
of  plastic  mortar,  and  had  hardened  in  the  sun.  It 
looked  as  if  there  must  have  been  water  there  sometime, 
but  we  had  not  seen  a  drop,  or  a  single  cloud;  every 
day  was  clear  and  sunny,  and  very  warm,  and  at  night 
no  stars  forgot  to  shine. 

Our  oxen  began  to  look  bad,  for  they  had  poor  food. 
Orass  had  been  ver^-  scarce,  and  now^  when  we  un- 
yoked them  and  turned  them  out  they  did  not  care  to 
look  around  much  for  something  to  eat.  They  moved 
slowd}'  and  cropped  disdainfully  the  dry  scattering 
shrubs  and  bunches  of  grass  from  six  inches  to  a  foot 
high.  Spending  many  nights  and  days  on  such  dry 
food  and  without  water  they  suffered  fearfully,  and 
though  fat  and  sleek  when  we  started  from  Salt  Lake, 
they  now  looked  gaunt  and  poor,  and  dragged  them- 
selves slowly  along,  poor  faithful  servants  of  mankind. 
No  one  knew  how  long  before  we  might  have 
to  kill  some  of  them  to  get  food  to  save  our  own  lives. 

We  now  traveled  several  days  down  the  bed  of  a 
broad  ravine,  which  led  to  a  southwest  direction. 
There  seemed  to  be  a  continuous  range  of  mountains 
on  the  south,  but  to  the  north  was  the  level  plain 
with  scattered  buttes,  and  what  we  had  all  along 
called  dry  lakes,  for  up  to  this  time  we  had  seen  no 
water  in  an}-  of  them.  I  had  carried  my  rifle  with  me 
every  day  since  we  took  this  route,  and  though  I  was 
an  experienced  hunter,  a  professional  one  if  there  be 
such  a  thing,  I  had  killed  only  one  rabbit,  and  where 
no  game  lived  I  got  as  hungry  as  other  folks. 

Our  line  soon  brought  us  in  sight  of  a  high  butte 


122  DEATH  VALLEY. 

which  stood  apparently  about  20  miles  south  of  our 
route,  and  I  determined  to  visit  and  climb  it  to  get  a 
better  view  of  things  ahead.  I  walked  steadily  all 
day  and  reached  the  summit  about  dusk.  I  wandered 
around  among  the  big  rocks,  and  found  a  projecting 
cliff  where  I  would  be  protected  from  enemies,  wind 
or  storm,  and  here  I  made  my  camp.  While  the  light 
lasted  I  gathered  a  small  stock  of  fuel,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  stunted  growth  of  .sage  and  other  small 
shrubs,  dry  but  not  dead,  and  with  this  I  built  a  little 
fire  Indian  fashion  and  sat  down  close  to  it.  Here 
was  a  good  chance  for  undisturbed  meditation  and 
.somewa}'  I  could  not  get  around  doing  a  little 
meditating  as  I  added  a  new  bit  of  fuel  now  and  then 
to  the  small  fire  burning  at  my  side.  I  thought  it 
looked  dark  and  troublesome  before  us.  I  took  a 
stcne  for  a  pillow  with  my  hat  on  it  for  a  cushion,  and 
lying  down  close  mider  the  shelving  rock  I  went  to 
sleep,  for  I  was  very  tired,  I  woke  soon  from  being 
cold,  for  the  butte  was  pretty  high,  and  .so  I  busied 
myself  the  remainder  of  the  night  in  adding  little 
.sticks  to  the  fire,  which  gave  me  some  warmth,  and 
thus  in  solitude  I  spent  the  night.  I  was  glad  enough 
to  see  the  day  break  over  the  eastern  mountains,  and 
light  up  the  vast  barren  country  I  could  see  on  every 
hand  around  me.  When  the  sun  was  fairl)-  up  I  took 
a  good  survey  of  the  situation,  and  it  seemed  as  if 
pretty  near  all  creation  was  in  sight.  North  and  we.st 
was  a  level  plain,  fully  one  hundred  miles  wide  it 
.seemed,  and  from  anything  I  could  see  it  would  not 
aiFord  a  traveler  a  single  drink  in  the  whole  distance 
or  give  a  poor  ox  many  mouthfuls  of  grass.  On  the 
western  edge  it  was  bounded  by  a  low,  black  and 
rocky  range  extending  nearly  north  and  south  for  a 
long  distance  and  no  pa.ss  though  it  which  I  cculd.see, 
and    beyond    this   range   still  another  one  apparently 


DEATH  VALLEY.  12.^ 

parallel  to  it.  In  a  due  west  course  from  ine  was  the 
high  peak  we  had  been  looking  at  for  a  mouth,  and 
lowest  place  was  on  the  north  side,  which  we  had 
named  Martin's  Pass  and  had  been  trjing  so  long  to 
reach.  This  high  peak,  covered  with  snow,  glistened 
to  the  morning  .sun,  and  as  the  air  was  clear  from 
clouds  or  fog,  and  no  dust  or  ha/.e  to  obscure  the  view, 
it  seemed  very  near. 

I  had  learned  b}'  experience  that  objects  a  day's 
walk  distant  .seemed  close  by  in  such  a  light,  and  that 
when  clear  lakes  appeared  onl}-  a  little  distance  in  our 
front,  we  might  search  and  .search  and  never  find  them. 
We  had  to  learn  how  to  look  for  water  in  this  peculiar 
way.  In  m\-  Wisconsin  travel  I  had  learned  that 
when  1  struck  a  ravine  I  must  go  down  to  look  for 
living  water,  but  here  we  must  invariably  travel 
upward  for  the  water  was  only  found  in  the  high 
mountains. 

Pro.spects  now  seemed  to  me  so  hopeless,  that  I 
heartily  wished  I  was  not  in  dutv  bound  to  stand  by 
the  women  and  small  children  who  could  never  reach 
a  land  of  bread  without  assistance.  If  I  was  in  the 
position  that  some  of  them  were  who  had  only  them- 
selves to  look  after,  I  could  jMck  up  my  knapsack  and 
gun  and  go  off,  feeling  I  had  no  dependent  ones  to 
leave  behind.  But  as  it  was  I  felt  I  should  be  morally 
guilty  of  murder  if  1  should  forsake  Mr.  Bennett's  wife 
and  children,  and  the  family  of  Mr.  Arcane  with 
whom  I  had  been  thus  far  associated.  It  was  a  dark 
line  of  thought  Ijut  I  always  felt  better  when  I  got 
around  to  the  determination,  as  I  always  did,  to  stand 
by  my  friends,  their  wives  and  children  let  come  what 
might. 

I  could  see  with  my  glass  the  trai.i  of  wagons  mov- 
ing slowly  over  the  plain  toward  what  looked  to  me 
like  a  large  lake.     I  made  a  guess  of  the    point  they 


124  DEATH  VALLEY. 

would  reach  by  night,  and  then  took  a  straight  course 
for  it  all  day  long  in  steady  travel.  It  was  some  time 
after  dark,  and  I  was  still  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
camp  fires,  where  in  the  bed  of  a  canon  I  stepped  into 
some  mud,  which  was  a  sign  of  water.  I  poked 
around  in  the  dark  for  a  while  and  soon  found  a  little 
pool  of  it,  and  having  been  without  a  drop  of  it  for 
two  days  I  lay  down  and  took  a  hasty  drink.  It  did 
not  seem  to  be  very  clear  or  clean,  but  it  was  certainly 
wet,  which  was  the  main  thing  just  then.  The  next 
morning  I  went  to  the  pond  of  water,  and  found  the 
oxen  had  been  w^atered  there.  They  stirred  up  the 
mud  a  good  deal  and  had  drank  off  about  all  the  clean 
part,  which  seemed  to  refresh  them  very  much.  I 
found  the  people  in  the  camp  on  the  edge  of  the  lake 
I  had  seen  from  the  mountain,  and  fortunately  it  con- 
tained about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  of  water.  They  had 
dug  some  holes  here,  which  filled  up,  and  they  were 
using  this  water  in    the  camp. 

The  ambitious  mountain-climbers  of  our  party  had 
by  this,  time,  abandoned  that  sort  of  work,  and  I  was 
left  alone  to  look  about  and  try  to  ascertain  the 
character  of  the  road  they  were  to  follow.  It  was  a 
great  deal  to  do  to  look  out  for  food  for  the  oxfen  and 
for  water  for  the  camp,  and  besides  all  this  it  was 
plain  there  were  Indians  about  even  if  we  did  not  see 
them.  There  were  many  signs,  and  I  had  to  be 
always  on  the  lookout  to  outgeneral  them.  When  the 
people  found  I  was  in  camp  this  nijht  they  came 
around  to  our  wagons  to  know  what  I  had  seen  and 
found,  and  vvhat  the  prospects  were  ahead.  Above  all 
they  wanted  to  know  how  far  it  was,  in  my  opinion 
to  the  end  of  our  journey.  I  listened  to  all  their  in- 
quiries and  told  them  plainly  what  I  had  seen,  and 
what  I  thought  of  the  prospect.  I  did  not  like  telling 
the  whole  truth    about  it    for  fear  it   might   dampen 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY.  125 

their  spirits,  but  being  pressed  for  an  opinion  I  told 
them  in  plain  words  that  it  would  at  least  be  another 
month  before  their  journey  would  be  ended.  They 
seemed  to  think  I  ought  to  be  pretty  good  authority, 
and  if  I  was  not  mistaken,  the  oxen  would  get  very 
poor  and  provisions  very  scarce  before  we  could  pull 
through  so  long.  I  was  up  at  day  break  and  found 
Mr.  Bennett  sitting  by  the  fire.  About  the  first  thing- 
he  said: — "Lewis,  if  you  please  I  don't  want  you  here- 
after to  express  your  views  so  openly  and  emphatically 
as  you  did  last  night  about  our  prospects.  Last  night 
when  I  went  to  bed  I  found  Sarah  (his  wife)  crying 
and  when  pressed  for  the  cause,  she  said  she  had  heard 
your  remarks  on  the  situation,  and  that  if  Lewis  said 
so  it  must  be  correct,  for  he  knows  more  about  it  than 
all  of  you.  She  felt  that  she  and  the  children  must 
starve. ' ' 

In  the  morning  Jayhawkers,  and  others  of  the  train 
that  were  not  considered  strictly  of  our  own  party,, 
yoked  up  and  started  due  west  across  the  level  plain 
which  I  had  predicted  as  having  no  water,  and  I  really 
thought  they  would  never  live  to  get  across  to  the 
western  border.  Mr.  Culverwell  and  Mr.  Fish  stayed 
with  us,  making  another  wagon  in  our  train.  We 
talked  about  the  matter  carefully,  I  did  not  think  it 
possible  to  get  across  that  plain  in  less  than  four  or 
six  days,  and  I  did  not  believe  there  was  a  drop  of 
water  on  the  route.  To  the  south  of  us  was  a 
mountain  that  now  had  considerable  snow  upon  its 
summit,  and  some  small  pine  trees  also.  Doubtless 
we  could  find  plenty  of  water  at  the  base,  but  being 
due  south,  it  was  quite  oif  our  course.  The  prospects 
for  reaching  water  were  so  much  better  in  that  way 
that  we  finally  decided  to  go  there  rather  than  follow 
the  Jayhawkers  on  their  desolate  tramp  over  the  dr\ 
plain. 


T26  DEATH  VALLEY. 

So  we  turned  up  a  canon  leading  toward  the 
mountain  and  had  a  ])retty  heavy  up  grade  and  a 
rough  bed  for  a  road.  Part  way  up  we  came  to  a 
high  cliff  and  in  its  face  were  niches  or  cavites  as 
large  as  a  barrel  or  larger,  and  in  .some  of  them  we 
found  balls  of  a  glistening  .substance  looking  some- 
thing like  pieces  of  vari gated  candy  stuck  together. 
The  balls  were  as  large  as  !-mall  pumpkins.  It  was 
evidently  food  of  some  sort,  and  we  found  it  .sweet 
but  sickish,  and  tho.^e  who  were  so  hungry  as  to  break 
up  one  of  the  balls  and  divide  it  among  the  others, 
making  a  good  meal  of  it,  were  a  little  troubled  with 
nausea  afterwards.  I  considered  it  bad  policy  to  rob 
the  Indians  of  any  of  their  food,  for  they  must  be 
pretty  smart  people  to  live  in  this  desolate  country  and 
find  enough  to  keep  them  alive,  and  I  was  pretty  sure 
we  might  count  them  as  hostiles  as  they  never  came 
near  our  camp.  Like  other  Indians  they  were 
probably  revengeful,  and  might  .seek  to  have  revenge 
on  us  for  the  injury.  We  considered  it  prudent  to 
keep  careful  watch  for  them,  so  they  might  not 
surprise  us  with  a  volley  of  arrows. 

The  second  night  we  camped  near  the  head  of  the 
canon  we  had  been  following,  but  thus  far  there  had 
been  no  water,  and  only  some  stunted  sage  brush  for 
the  oxen,  which  they  did  not  like,  and  only  ate  it 
when  near  the  point  of  starvation.  They  .stood  around 
the  camp  looking  as  .sorry  as  oxen  can.  During  the 
n'ght  a  stray  and  crazy  looking  cloud  pa.ssed  over  us 
and  left  its  moisture  on  the  mountain  to  the  shape  of  a 
coat  of  .siiow  several  inches  deep.  When  daylight 
came  the  oxen  crowded  around  the  wagons,  shivering 
Vv'ith  cold,  and  licking  up  the  snow  to  quench  their 
thirst.  We  took  pattern  after  them  and  melted  snow 
to  get  water  for  ourselves. 

By  the  looks  of    our  cattle  it  did  not  seem  as  if  they 


DEATH  VALLEY  127 

could  pull  much,  and  light  loads  were  advisable  on 
this  up  grade.  Mr.  Bennett  was  a  carpenter  and  had 
brought  along  some  good  tools  in  his  wagon.  These 
he  reluctantly  unloaded,  and  almost  everything  else 
except  bedding  and  provisions,  and  leaving  them 
upon  the  ground,  we  rolled  up  the  hills  .slowly,  with 
loads  as  light  as    possible. 

Rogers  and  I  went  ahead  with  our  guns  to  look  out 
the  way  and  find  a  good  camping  place.  After  a 
few  miles  we  got  out  of  the  snow  and  out  upon  an  in- 
cline, and  in  the  bright  clear  morning  air  the  foot  of 
thesnowy  part  of  the  m^aiitain  seemed  near  by  and  sav 
were  sure  we  could  reach  it  before  night.  From  here  no 
guide  was  needed  and  Rogers  and  I,  with  our  guns 
and  canteens  hurried  on  as  fist  as  possible,  when  a 
camp  was  found  we  were  to  raise  a  signal  smoke  to 
tell  them  where  it  was.  We  were  here,  as  before 
badly  deceived  as  to  the  distance,  and  we  marched 
steadily  and  swiftly  till  nearly  night  before  we  reached 
the  foot  of  the  mountain. 

Here  was  a  flat  place  in  a  table  land  and  on  it  a  low 
brush  hut,  with  a  small  smoke  near  by,  which  we 
could  plainly  see  as  we  were  in  the  shade  of  the 
mountain,  and  that  place  lighted  up  by  the  nearly 
setting  sun.  We  looked  carefully  and  satisfied  our- 
selves there  was  but  one  hut,  and  con.sequently  but 
few  people  could  be  expected.  We  a])proached  care- 
fully and  cautiously,  making  a  circuit  around  so  as  to 
get  between  the  hut  and  the  hill  in  case  that  the 
occupants  should  retreat  in  that  direction.  It  was  a 
long  time  before  we  could  see  any  entrance  to  this 
wickiup,  but  we  found  it  at  last  and  approached 
directly  in  front,  very  cautiously  indeed:  We  could 
.see  no  one,  and  thought  perhaps  they  were  in 
ambush  for  us,  but  hardly  ])robable,  as  we  had  kejJt 
closelv   out    of  sight.      We  consiilted  a    moment  and 


128  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

concluded  to  make  an  advance  and  if  possible  capture 
some  one  who  could  tell  us  about  the  countrj',  as  we 
felt  we  were  completely  lost.  When  within  thirty 
yards  a  man  poked  out  his  head  out  of  a  doorway  and 
drew  it  back  again  quick  as  a  flash.  We  kept  out  our 
guns  at  full  cock  and  ready  for  use,  and  told  Rogers 
to  look  out  for  arrows,  for  they  would  come  now  if 
ever.  But  they  did  not  pull  a  bow  on  us,  and  the  red- 
man,  almost  naked  came  out  and  beckoned  for  us  to 
come  on  which  we  did. 

We  tried  to  talk  with  the  fellow  in  the  sign  language 
but  he  could  understand  about  as  much  as  an  oyster. 
I  made  a  little  basin  in  the  ground  and  filled  it  with 
water  from  our  canteens  to  represent  a  lake,  then 
pointed  in  an  inquiring  way  west  and  north,  made 
signs  of  ducks  and  geese  flying  and  squawking,  but  I 
did  no  seem  to  be  able  to  get  an  idea  into  his  head  of 
what  Me  wanted.  I  got  thoroughly  provoked  at  him 
and  may  have  shown  some  signs  of  anger.  During 
all  this  time  a  child  or  two  in  the  hut  squalled 
terribly,  fearing  I  suppose  they  would  all  be  mur- 
dered. We  might  have  lost  our  scalps  under  some 
circumstances,  but  we  appeared  to  be  fully  the 
strangest  party,  and  had  no  fear,  for  the  Indian  had 
no  weapon  about  him  and  we  had  both  guns  and 
knives'  The  poor  fellow  was  shivering  with  cold, and 
with  signs  of  friendship  we  fired  off"  one  of  the  guns 
which  waked  him  up  a  little  and  he  pointed  to  the 
gun  and  said  "Walker,"  probably  meaning  the  same 
good  Chief  Walker  who  had  so  fortunately  stopped  us 
in  our  journey  down  Green  River.  I  understood  from 
the  Indian  that  he  was  not  friendlj'  to  Walker,  but  to 
show  that  he  was  all  right  with  us  he  went  into  the  hut 
and  brought  out  a  handful  of  corn  for  us  to  eat.  By 
the  aid  of  a  warm  spring  near  by  they  had  raised  some 
corn  here,  and  the  dry  stalks  were    standing  around. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  129 

As  we  were  about  to  leave  I  told  him  we  would  come 
back,  next  day  and  bring  him  some  clothes  if  we  could 
find  any  to  spare,  and  then  we  shouldered  our  guns 
and  went  back  toward  the  wagons,  looking  over  our 
shoulders  occasionally  to  see  if  we  were  followed. 
We  walked  fast  down  the  hill  and  reached  the  camp 
about  dark  to  find  it  a  most  unhappy  one  indeed. 
Mrs.  Bennett  and  Mrs.  Arcane  were  in  heart-rending 
distress.  The  four  children  were  crying  for  water 
but  there  was  not  a  drop  to  give  them,  and  none  could 
be  reached  before  some  time  next  day.  The  mothers 
were  nearl}^  crazy,  for  they  expected  the  children 
would  choke  with  thirst  and  die  in  their  arms,  and 
would  rather  perish  themselves  than  suffer  the  agony 
of  seeing  their  little  ones  gasp  and  slowh'  die.  They 
reproached  themselves  as  being  the  cause  of  all  this 
trouble.  For  the  love  of  gold  they  had  left  homes 
where  hunger  had  never  come,  and  often  in  sleep 
dreamed  of  the  bounteous  tables  of  their  old  homes 
onl}^  to  be  woefully  disappointed  in  the  iiiorning. 
There  was  great  gladness  when  John  Rogers  and  I 
appeared  ■  in  the  camp  and  gave  the  mothers  full 
canteens  of  water  for  themselves  and  little  ones,  and 
there  was  tears  of  joy  and  thankfulness  upon  their 
cheeks  as  they  blessed  us  over  and  over  again. 

The  oxen  fared  ver)'  hard.  The  ground  was  made 
up  of  broken  stone,  and  all  that  grew  was  a  dry  and 
stunted  brush  not  more  than  six  inches  high,  of  which 
the  poor  animals  took  an  occasional  dainty  bite,  and 
seemed  hardly  able  to  drag  along. 

It  was  only  seven  or  eight  miles  to  the  warm  spring 
and  all  felt  better  to  know  for  a  certainty  that  we 
would  soon  be  safe  again.  We  started  early,  even  the 
women  walked,  so  as  to  favor  the  poor  oxen  all  we 
could.  When  within  two  miles  of  the  water  some  of 
the  oxen  lay  down  and   refused    to  rise   again,  so  we^ 


I30  DEATH  VALLEY. 

had  to  leave  them  and  a  wagon,  while  the  rest  pushed 
on  and  reached  the  spring  soon  after  noon.  We  took 
water  and  went  back  to  the  oxen  left  behind,  and  gave 
them  some  to  drink.  They  were  somewhat  rested 
and  got  up,  and  we  tried  to  drive  them  in  without  the 
wagons,  but  the}-  were  not  inclined  to  travel  without 
the  yoke,  so  we  put  it  on  them  and  hitched  to  the 
wagon  again.  The  yoke  and  the  wagon  seemed  to 
brace  them  up  a  good  deal,  and  they  went  along  thus 
much  better  than  when  alone  and  scattered  about, 
with  nothing  to  lean  upon. 

The  warm  spring  was  quite  large  and  ran  a  hundred 
yards  or  more  before  the  water  sank  down  into  the 
dr}'  and  thirsty  desert.  The  dry  cornstalks  of  last 
years  crop,  some  small  willows,  sage  brush,  weeds  and 
grass  suited  cur  animals  very  well,  and  they  ate  better 
than  for  a  long  time,  and  we  thought  it  best  to  remain 
two  or  three  days  to  give  them  a  chance  to  get  rest. 
The  Indian  we  left  here  the  evening  before  had  gone 
and  left  nothing  behind  but  a  chunk  of  crystalized  rock 
salt.      He  seemed  to  be  afraid  of  his  friends. 

The  range  we  had  been  traveling  nearly  paralell 
with  seemed  to  come  to  an  end  here  where  this 
snow  peak  stood,  and  immediately  north  and  south  of 
this  peak  there  seemed  to  be  a  lower  pass.  The  con- 
tinous  range  north  was  too  low  to  hold  snow.  In  the 
morning  I  concluded  to  go  to  the  summit  of  that  pass 
and  with  my  gla.ss  have  an  extensive  view.  Two 
other  boys  started  with  me,  and  as  we  moved  along 
the  snow  line  we  .saw  tracks  of  our  runaway  Indian  in 
the  snow,  passing  over  a  low.  ridge.  As  we  went  on 
up  hill  our  boys  began  to  fall  behind,  and  long  before 
night  I  could  see  nothing  of  them.  The  ground  was 
quite  soft,  and  I  saw  many  tracks  of  Indians 
which  put  me  on  m\'  guard.  I  reached  the  summit 
and  as  the  .shade  of  its  mountain  began  to    make   it   a 


DEATH  VAULKV.  131 

little  dark,  I  built  a  fire  of  sage  brush,  ate  my  grub, 
and  when  it  was  fairly  dark,  renewed  the  fire  and 
passed  on  a  mile,  where  in  a  small  ravine  with  banks 
two  feet  high  I  lay  down  sheltered  from  the  wind  and 
slept  till  morning.  I  did  this  to  beat  the  Indian  in 
his     own  cunning. 

Next  morning  1  reached  the  summit  about  nine 
o'clock,  and  had  the  grandest  view  I  ever  saw.  I 
could  see  north  and  south  almost  forever.  The 
surrounding  region  seemed  lower,  but  much  of  it  black, 
mountainous  and  barren.  On  the  west  the  snow  peak 
shut  out  the  view  in  that  direction.  To  the  south  the 
mouutains  seemed  to  descend  for  more  than  twenty 
miles,  and  near  the  base,  perhaps  ten  miles  away, 
were  several  smokes,  api)arently  from  camp  fires,  and 
as  I  could  see  no  animals  or  camp  wagons  anywhere 
I  presumed  them  to  be  Indians.  A  few  miles  to  the 
north  and  east  of  where  I  stood,  and  .somewhat  higher, 
was  the  roughest  piece  of  ground  I  ever  .saw.  It 
stood  in  sharp  peaks  and  was  of  many  colors,  some  of 
them  so  red  that  tlie  mountain  looked  red  hot,  I 
imagined  it  to  be  a  true  volcanic  jxjint.  and  had  never 
been  so  near  one  before,  and  the  most  wonderful 
])icture  of  giand  desolation    one  could  ever  see. 

Toward  tlie  north  I  couUl  see  the  desert  the  Jay- 
hawkers  and  their  comrades  had  under  taken  to  cross, 
and  if  their  journey  was  as  troublesome  as  ours  and 
very  much  longer,  they  might  by  this  time  be  all 
dead  of  thirst.  I  remained  on  this  summit  an  hour  or 
so  bringing  my  gla.ss  to  bear  on  all  points  within  my 
view,  and  scanning  closely  for  everything  that  tnight 
help  us  or  prove  an  obstacle  to  our  i)rogress.  The 
more  I  looked  the  more  I  satisfied  myself  that  we  were 
yet  a  long  way  from  California  and  the  serious  question 
of  our  ever  living  to  get  there  presented  itself  to  me 
as  I  tramped  along  down  the    grade  to   camp.      I  put 


132  DEATH  YALIvEY. 

down  at  least  another  month  of  heavy  weary  travel  be- 
fore we  could  hope  to  make  the  land  of  gold,  and  our 
stock  of  strength  and  provisions  were  both  pretty 
small  for  so  great  a  tax  upon  them.  1  thought  so 
little  aboiit  anything  else  that  the  Indians  might  have 
captured  me  easily,  for  I  jogged  along  without  a 
thought  of  them.  I  thought  of  the  bounteous  stock  of 
bread  and  beans  upon  my  father's  table,  to  say  nothing 
about  all  the  other  good  things,  and  here  was  I,  the 
oldest  son,  away  out  in  the  centerofthe  Great  American 
Desert,  with  an  empty  stomach  and  a  dry  and  parched 
throat,  and  clothes  fast  wearing  out  with  constant 
wear.  And  perhaps  I  had  not  yet  seen  the  worst  of 
it.  I  might  be  forced  to  see  men,  and  the  women  and 
children  of  our  party,  choke  and  die,  powerless  to 
help  them.  It  was  a  darker,  gloomier  day  than  I  had 
ever  known  could  be,  and  alone  I  wept  aloud,  for  I 
believed  I  could  see  the  future,  and  the  results  were 
bitter  to  contemplate.  I  hope  no  reader  of  this 
history  may  ever  be  placed  in  a  position  to  be  thus 
tried  for  I  am  not  ashamed  to  say  that  I  have  a  weak 
point  to  show  under  such  circumstances.  It  is  not  in 
my  power  to  tell  how  much  I  suffered  in  my  lonely 
trips,  lasting  sometimes  days  and  nights  that  I  might 
give  the  best  advice  to  those  of  my  part}'.  I  believed 
that  I  could  escape  at  any  time  myself,  but  all  must 
be  brought  through  or  perish,  and  with  this  all  I 
knew  I  must  not  discourage  the  others.  I  could  tell 
them  the  truth,  but  I  must  keep  my  worst  apprehen- 
sions to  myself  lest  they  loose  heart  and  hope  and 
faith  needlessly. 

I  reached  the  camp  on  the  third  day  where  I  found  the 
boys  who  went  part  way  with  me  and  whom  I  had 
out-walked.  I  related  to  the  whole  camp  what  I  had 
seen,  and  when  all  was  told  it  appeared  that  the  route 
from  the  mountains  westerly  was  the    onlj-  route  that 


DEATH  YALLKY.  133 

■could  be  taken,  they  told  me  of  a  discovery  they  had 
made  of  a  pile  of  squashes  probably  raised  upon  the 
place,  and  sufficient  in  number  so  that  every  person 
■could  have  one.  I  did  not  approve  of  this  for  we  had 
no  title  to  this  produce,  and  might  be  depriving  the 
rightful  owner  of  the  means  of  life.  I  told  them  not 
only  was  it  wrong  to  rob  them  of  their  food,  but  they 
■could  easily  revenge  themselves  on  us  by  shooting  our 
cattle,  or  scalp  us,  by  gathering  a  company  of  their 
own  people  together.  They  had  no  experience  with 
red  men  and  were  slow  to  see  the  results  I  spoke  of 
as  possible. 

During  my  absence  an  ox  had  been  killed,  for  some 
were  nearly  out  of  provisions,  and  flesh  was  the  only 
means  to  prevent  starvation.  The  meat  was  dis- 
tributed amongst  the  entire  camp,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  when  it  became  necessary  to  kill  another  it 
should  be  divided  in  the  same  way.  vSome  one  of  the 
wagons  would  have  to  be  left  for  lack  of  animals  to  draw 
it.  Our  animals  were  so  poor  that  one  would  not  last 
long  as  food.  No  fat  could  be  found  on  the  entire 
carcass,  and  the  marrow  of  the  great  bones  was  a 
thick  liquid,  streaked  with  blood  resembling  cor- 
ruption. 

Our  road  led  us  around  the  base  of  the  mountain; 
There  were  many  large  rocks  in  our  way,  some  as 
large  as  houses,  but  we  wound  around  among 
them  in  a  very  crooked  waj^  and  managed  to  get 
along.  The  feet  of  the  oxen  became  so  sore  that  we 
made  mocassins  for  then\  from  the  hide  of  the  ox  that 
was  killed,  and  with  this  protection  they  got  along 
very  well.  Our  trains  now  consisted  of  seven  wagons. 
Bennett  had  two;  Arcane  two;  liarhart  Bros.  one. 
Culverwell,  Fish  and  others  one;  and  there  was  one 
other,  the  owners  of  which  I  have  forgotton.  The  second 
night  we  had  a  fair  camp  wdth  water   and   pretty   fair 


134  DEATH  VALLEY. 

grass  and  brush  for  the  oxen.  We  were  not  very  far 
from  the  snow  line  and  this  had  some  effect  on  the 
country.  When  Bennett  retired  thatn'ghtheput  on  a 
camp  kettle  of  the  fresh  beef  and  so  arranged  the  fire 
that  it  would  cook  slowly  and  be  done  by  daylight  for 
breakfast.  After  an  hour  or  so  Mr.  Bennett  went  out 
to  replenish  the  fire  and  see  how  the  cooking  was 
coming  on,  and  when  I  went  to  put  more  water  in  the 
kettle,  he  found  that  to  his  disappointment,  the  most 
of  the  meat  was  gone.  I  was  rolled  up  in  my  blanket 
under  his  wagon  and  awoke  when  he  came  to  the  fire 
and  saw  him  stand  and  look  around  as  if  to  fasten  the 
crime  on  the  right  party  if  possi'-^le,  but  soon  he  came 
tome,  and  in  a  whisper  said:  "Did  you  see  anyone 
around  the  fi'-e  after  we  went  to  bed?"  I  assured 
him  I  did  not,  and  then  he  told  me  some  one  had 
taken  his  meat.  "Do  you  think,"'  said  he  "that  any 
one  is  .so  near  out  of  food  as  to  be  starving?  "  "I 
know  the  meat  is  poor,  and  who  ev^er  took  it  must  be 
nearly  starving.  After  a  whispered  conversation  we 
went  to  bed,  but  we  both  rose  at  daylight  and,  as  we 
sat  by  the  fire,  kept  watch  of  those  who  got  uj)  and 
came  around.  We  thought  we  knew  the  right  man, 
but  were  not  sure,  and  could  not  imagine  what  might 
happen  if  stealing  grub  should  begin  and  continue. 
It  is  a  sort  of  unwritten  law  that  in  parties  such  as 
ours,  he  w^ho  steals  provisions  forteits  his  life.  We 
knew  we  must  keep  watch  and  if  the  offense  was  re- 
peated the  guilty  one  might  be  compelled  to  suffer. 
Bennett  watched  closely  and  for  a  few  days  I  kept 
closely  with  the  wagons  for  tear  there  might  be 
trouble.  It  was  really  the  most  critical  point  in  our 
experience.  After  three  or  four  days  all  hope  of  de- 
tecting the  crimminal  had  passed,  and  all  danger  was 
over  out    of  any  difficulty. 

One  night  we  had  a  fair  camp,  as  we    were  close  to 


DEATH  VALLEY.  135 

the  base  of  the  snow  hutte,  and  found  a  hole  of  clear 
or  what  seemed  to  be  li\nng  water.  There  were  a  few 
minnows  in  it  not  much  more  than  an  inch  long. 
This  was  among  a  big  pile  of  rocks,  and  around  these 
the    oxen  found  some  grass. 

There  now  appeared  to  be  a  pass  away  to  the  south 
as  a  sort  of  outlet  to  the  great  plain  which  lay  to  the 
north  of  us,  but  immediately  west  and  across  the  desert 
waste,  extending  to  the  foot  of  a  low  black  range  of 
mountains,  through  which  there  seemed  to  be  no  ])ass, 
the  distant  snowy  peak  lay  still  farther  on,  with 
Martin 's  pass  over  it  still  a  loiig  way  off  though  we 
had  been  steering  toward  it  for  a  month.  Now  as  we 
were  compelled  to  go  west  this  impassable  barrier  was 
in  our  waj-  and  if  no  pass  could  be  found  in  it  we 
would  be  compelled  to  go  south  and  make  no  ])rogress 
in  a  westerly  direction. 

Our  trail  was  now  descending  to  the  bottoui  of  what 
seemed  to  be  the  narrowest  part  of  the  plain,  the  same 
one  the  Jayhawkers  had  started  across,  further  north, 
ten  days  before.  When  we  reached  the  lowest  part  of 
this  valley  we  came  to  a  running  stream,  and,  as  dead 
grass  could  be  seen  in  the  bed  where  the  water  ran 
very  slowly,  I  concluded  it  only  had  water  in  it  after 
hard  rains  in  the  mountains,  perha])s  a  hundred  miles, 
to  the  north.  This  water  was  not  pure;  it  had  a 
bitter  taste,  and  no  doubt  in  dry  weather  was  a  rank 
poison.  Those  who  partook  of  it  were  affected  about 
as  if  they  had  taken  a  big  do.se    of  salts. 

A  short  distance  above  this  we  found  the  trail  of  the 
Jayhawkers  going  west,  and  thus  we  knew  they  had 
got  safely  across  the  great  plain  and  then  turned 
southward.  I  hurried  along  their  trail  for  several 
miles  and  looked  the  country  over  with  field  gla.ss 
becoming  fully  .satisfied  we  should  find  no  water  til 
we  reached  the  summit,  of  the  ne.xt  range,   and  then 


136  DEATH  VALLEY. 

fearing  the  party  had  not  taken  the  precaution  to 
bring  along  some  water  I  went  back  to  them  and 
found  they  had  none.  I  told  them  they  would  not 
see  a  drop  for  the  next  forty  miles,  and  they  unloaded 
the  lightest  wagon  and  drove  back  with  everything 
they  had  which  would  hold  water,  to  get  a  good 
supply. 

I  turned  back  again  on  the  Jayhawker's  road,  and 
followed  it  so  rapidly  that  well  toward  night  I  was 
prett}'  near  the  summit,  where  a  pass  through  this 
rocky  range  had  been  found  and  on  this  mountain  not 
a  tree  a  shrub  or  spear  of  grass  could  be  found-  desola- 
tion beyond  conception.  1  carried  mj^  gun  along 
every  day,  but  for  the  want  of  a  chance  to  kill  any 
game  a  single  load  would  remain  in  my  gun  for  a 
month.  Very  seldom  a  rabbit  could  be  .seen,  but  not 
a  bird  of  any  kind,  not  even  a  hawk  buzzard  or  crow 
made  their  appearance  here. 

When  near  the  steep  part  of  the  mountain,  I  found 
a  dead  ox  the  Jayhawers  had  left,  as  no  camp  could  be 
made  here  for  lack  of  water  and  grass,  the  meat  could 
not  be  saved.  I  found  the  body  of  the  animal  badly 
shrunken,  but  in  condition,  as  far  as  putrefaction  was 
concerned,  as  perfect  as  when  alive.  A  big  gash  had 
been  cut  in  the  ham  clear  to  the  bone  and  the  sun  had 
dried  the  flesh  in  this.  I  was  so  awfal  hungry  that  I 
took  my  sheath  knife  and  cut  a  big  steak  which  I  de- 
voured as  I  walked  along,  without  cooking  or  salt. 
Some  ma}'  say  they  would  starve  before  eating  such 
meat,  but  if  they  have  ever  experienced  hunger  till 
it  begins  to  draw  down  the- life  itself,  they  will  find 
the  impulse  of  self  preservation  something  not  to  be 
controlled  by  mere  reason.  It  is  an  instinct  that  takes 
possession  of  one  in  spite  of  himself. 

I  went  down  a  narrow,  dark  canon  high  on  both 
sides  and  perpendicular,  and  quite  so  in  many   places. 


DEATH  V ALLEY.  137 

111  one  of  the  perpendicular  portions  it  seemed  to  be  a 
varigated  clay  formation,  and  a  little  water  seeped 
down  its  face.  Here  the  Indians  had  made  a  clay 
bowl  and  fastened  it  to  the  wall  so  that  it  would 
collect  and  retain  about  a  quart  of  water,  and  I  had  a 
good  drink  of  water,  the  first  one  since  leaving  the 
running  stream.  Near  here  I  staid  all  night,  for  fear 
of  Indians  who  I  firmly  believe  would  have  taken  my 
scalp  had  a  good  opportunity  offered.  I  slept  without 
a  fire,  and  my  supply  of  meat  just  obtained  drove 
hunger  away. 

In  the  morning  I  started  down  the  canon  which 
descended  rapidly  and  had  a  bed  of  sharp,  volcanic, 
broken  rock.  I  could  sometimes  see  an  Indian  track, 
and  kept  a  sharp  lookout  at  every  turn,  for  fear  of 
revenge  on  account  of  the  store  of  squashes  which  had 
been  taken.  I  felt  1  was  in  constant  danger,  but  could 
do  nothing  else  but  go  on  and  keep  eyes  open  trusting 
to  circumstances  to  get  out  of  any  sudden  emergency 
that   might  arise. 

As  I  recollect  this  was  Christmas  day  and  about 
dusk  I  came  upon  the  camp  of  one  man  with  his  wife 
and  family,  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Brier,  Mrs.  Brier  and  two 
.sons.  I  inquired  for  others  of  his  party  and  he  told 
me  they  were  somewhere  ahead.  When  I  arrived  at 
his  camp  I  found  the  reverend  gentleman  very  cooly 
delivering  a  lecture  to  his  boys  on  education.  It 
seemed  very  strange  to  me  to  hear  a  solemn  discourse 
on  the  benefits  of  early  education  when,  it  seemed  to 
me,  starvation  was  staring  us  all  in  the  face,  and  the 
barren  desolation  all  around  gave  small  promise  of 
the  need  of  any  education  higher  than  the  natural 
impulses  of  nature.  None  of  us  knew  exacth'  where 
we  were,  nor  when  the  journey  would  be  ended,  nor 
when  substantial  relief  would  come.  Provisions  were 
wasting  away,  and  some  had  been  reduced  to    the  last 


13^  DEATH  VALLEY 

alternative  of  subsisting  on  the  oxen  alone.  I  slept 
by  the  iire  that  night,  without  a  blanket,  as  I  had 
done  on  many  nights  before  end  after  they  hitched  up 
and  drove  on  in  the  morning  I  searched  the  camp 
carefully,  finding  some  bacon  rinds  they  had  thrown 
away.  As  I  chewed  these  and  could  taste  the  rich 
grease  they  contained,  I  thought  they  were  tlie  sweet- 
est morsels  I  ever  tasted. 

Here  on  the  north  side  of  the  canon  were  some 
rolling  hills  and  some  small  weak  springs,  the  water 
of  which  when  gathered  together  made  a  small  stream 
which  ran  a  few  yards  down  the  caiion  before  it  lost 
itself  in  the  rocks  and  sand.  On  the  .side  there  stood  what 
seemed  to  be  one  half  of  abutte,  with  the  perpendicular 
face  toward  the  caiion.  Away  on  the  .summit  of  the 
butte  I  saw  an  Indian,  .so  far  away  he  looked  no  taller 
than  my  finger,  and  when  he  went  out  of  sight  I  knew 
prett>'  well  he  was  the  very  fellow  who  grew  the 
squashes.  I  thought  it  might  be  he.  at  any  rate. 

I  now  turned  back  to  meet  the  teams  and  found 
them  seven  or  eight  miles  up  the  cafion,  and  although 
it  was  a  down  grade  the  oxen  were  barelj-  able  to 
walk  .slowly  with  their  loads  which  were  light,  as 
wagons  were  almost  empt}'  except  the  women  and 
children.  When  night  came  on  it  seemed  to  be  cloudy 
and  we  could  hear  the  cries  of  the  wild  geese  passing- 
east.  We  regarded  this  as  a  very  good  sign  and  no 
doubt  Owen's  Lake,  which  we  expected  to  pa.ss  on 
this  route,  was  not  very  far  off.  Around  in  those 
small  hills  and  damp  places  was  some  coarse  grass  and 
other  growths,  but  those  who  had  gone  before  de- 
voured the  best,  so  our  oxen  had  a  hard  time  to  get 
anything   to    eat. 

Next  morning  I  shouldered  my  gun  and  followed 
down  the  canon  keeping  the  wagon  road,  and  when 
half  a  mile  down,  at  the  sink  of  the    sickly  .stream,    I 


DEATH  VAI^LEY.  139- 

killed  a  wild  goose.  This  had  undoubtedly  been  at- 
tracted here  the  night  before  by  the  light  of  our  camp 
fire.  When  I  got  near  the  lower  end  of  the  canon, 
there  was  a  cliff  on  the  north  or  right  hand  side  which 
was  perpendicuiar  or  perhaps  a  little  overhanging,  and 
at  the  base  a  cave  which  had  the  appearance  of  being 
continuously  occupied  by  Indians.  As  I  wert  on 
down  I  saw  a  very  strange  looking  track  upon  the 
ground.  There  were  hand  and  foot  prints  as  if 
a  human  being  had  crawled  upon  all  fours.  As  this 
track  reached  the  valley  where  the  sand  had  been  clean 
swept  by  the  wind,  the  tracks  became  more  plain,  and 
.the  sand  had  been  blown  into  small  hills  not  over 
three  or  four  feet  high.  I  followed  the  track  till -it 
led  to  the  top  of  one  of  these  small  hills  where  a  small 
well-like  hole  had  been  dug  and  in  this  excavation 
was  a  kind  of  Indian  mumni}"  curled  up  like  a  dog. 
He  was  not  dead  for  I  could  see  him  move  as  he 
breathed,  but  his  skin  looked  very  much  like  the 
surface  of  a  wile  dried  venison  ham.  I  should  think 
by  his  looks  he  must  be  200  or  300  years  old,  indeed 
he  might  be  Adam's  brother  and  not  look  any  older 
than  he  did.  He  was  evidently  crippled.  A  climate 
which  would  preserve  for  many  days  or  weeks  the 
carcass  of  an  ox  so  that  an  eatable  round  stake  could 
be  cut  from  it,  might  perhaps  preserve  a  live  man  for 
a  longer  period  than  would  be  believed. 

I  took  a  good  long  look  at  the  wild  creature  and 
during  all  the  time  he  never  moved  a  muscle,  though 
he  must  have  known  some  one  was  in  the  well  looking 
down  at  him.  He  was  probably  practicing  on  one  of 
the  directions  for  a  successful  political  career  looking 
wise  and  saj-ing  nothing.  At  any  rate  he  was  not  going 
to  let  his  talk  get  him  into  any  trouble.  He  probably 
had  a  friend  around  somewhere  who  supplied  his 
wants.      I  now  left  him  and  went  farther    out  into  the 


I40  DEATH  VALLEY. 

lowest  part  of  the  valley.  I  could  look  to  the  north 
for  fifty  miles  and  it  seemed  to  rise  gradually  in  that 
direction.  To  the  south  the  view  was  equally  ex- 
tended, and  down  that  way  a  lake  could  be  seen. 
The  valley  was  here  quite  narrow,  and  the  lofty  snow- 
•capped  peak  we  had  tried  so  hard  to  reach  for  the 
past  two  months  now  stood  before  me.  Its  east  side 
was  almost  perpendicular  and  seemed  to  reach  the 
sky,  and  the  snow  was  drifting-  over  it,  while  here  the 
day  sun  was  shining  uncomfortablj'  hot.  I  believe 
this  mountain  was  really  miles  from  its  base  to  its 
summit,  and  that  nothing  could  climb  it  on  the  eastern 
side  except  a  bird  and  the  only  bird  I  had  .seen  for 
two  months  was  the  goose  I  shot.  1  looked  every 
day  for  some  .sort  of  game  but  had  not  seen    any. 

As  [  reached  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  I  walked 
over  what  seemed  to  be  boulders  of  various  sizes,  and 
as  I  stepped  from  one  to  another  the  tops  were  covered 
with  dirt  and  they  grew  larger  as  I  went  along.  I  could 
see  behind  them  and  they  looked  clear  like  ice,  but  on 
closer  inspection  proved  to  be  immense  blocks  of  rock 
.salt  while  the  water  which  .stood  at  their  bases  was  the 
strongest  brine.  After  this  discovery  I  took  my  way 
back  to  the  road  made  by  the  Jayhawkers  and  found 
it  qiiite  level,  but  ?andy.  Following  this  I  came  vo  a 
campfire  soon  after  dark  at  which  E.  Dot)^  and  mess 
were  camped.  As  I  was  better  acquainted  I  camped 
with  them.  They  said  the  water  there  was  brackish 
and  I  soon  found  out  the  same  thing  for  myself.  It 
was  a  poor  camp;  no  gra.ss,  poor  water  and  scattering, 
bitter  sage  brush  for  food  for  the  cattle.  It  would  not 
do  to  wait  long  here,  and  so  they  hurried  on. 

I  inquired  of  them  about  Martin's  Pass,  as  they 
were  now  quite  near  it,  and  they  said  it  was  no  pass  at 
all,  only  the  mountain  was  a  little  lower  than  the  one 
holding  the  .snow.      No  wagon  could  get    over  it,  and 


DEATH  VALIvEV.  141 

the  party  had  made  up  their  minds  to  go  on  foot,  and 
were  actually  burning  their  wagons  as  fuel  with  which 
to  dry  the  meat  of  some  of  the  oxen  which  they  had 
killed.  They  selected  those  which  were  weakest  and 
least  likely  to  stand  the  journey,  and  by  drying  it  the 
food  was  much  concentrated.  They  were  to  divide 
the  provisions  equally  and  it  was  agreed  thereafter 
■every  one  must  lookout  for  himself  and  not  expect  any 
help  from  anyone.  If  he  used  up  his  own  provisions, 
he  had  no  right  to  expect  anyone  else  to  divic^e  with 
him.  Rice,  tea  and  coffee  were  measured  out  by  the 
.spoonful  and  the  small  amount  of  flour  and  bacon 
which  remained  was  divided  out  as  evenly  as  possible. 
Ever^'^thing  was  to  be  left  behind  but  blankets  and 
provisions  for  the  men  were  too  weak  to  carr}'  heavj^ 
packs  and  the  oxen  could  not  be  relied  on  as  beasts  of 
burden  and  it  was  thought  best  not  to  load  them  so  as 
to  needlessly  break  them  down. 

When  these  fellows  started  out  they  were  full  of 
spirit,  and  the  frolic  and  fun  along  the  Platte  river  was 
something  worth  laughing  at  but  now  they  were  very 
melancholy  and  talked  in  the  lowest  kind  of  low  spirits. 
One  fellow  said  he  knew  this  was  the  Creator's  dump- 
ing place  where  he  had  left  the  worthless  dregs  after 
making  a  world,  and  the  devil  had  scraped  these  to- 
gether a  little.  Another  said  this  must  be  the  very 
place  where  Eot's  wife  was  turned  into  a  pillar  of  salt, 
and  the  pillar  been  broken  up  and  spread  around  the 
country.  He  said  if  a  man  was  to  die  he  would  never 
decay  on  account  of  the  salt.  Thus  the  talk  went  on. 
and  it  seemed  as  if  there,  were  not  bad  words  enough 
in  the  language  to  properly  express  their  contempt 
and  bad  opinion  of  such  a  country  as  this.  They 
treated  me  to  some  of  their  meat,  a  little  better  than 
mine,  and  before  daylight  in  the  morning  I  was 
headed  back  on  the  trail  to  report  the  bad   news  I  had 


I  42  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

learned  of  the  Jayhawkers. 

About  noon  I  met  two  of  our  camp  companions  with 
packs  on  their  backs  following  the  wagon  trail,  and  we 
stopped  and  had  a  short  talk.  They  were  oldish  men 
perhaps  50  3'ears  old,  one  a  Mr.  Fish  of  Indiana  and 
another  named  Gould.  They  said  they  could  perhaps 
do  as  well  on  foot  as  to  follow  the  slow  ox  teams,  but 
when  I  told  them  what  those  ahead  of  them  were  doing, 
and  how  they  must  go,  they  did  not  seem  to  be  en- 
tirely satisfied,  as  what  they  had  on  their  backs  would 
need  to  be  replenished,  and  no  such  chance  could  be 
expected.  They  had  an  idea  that  the  end  of  the 
journey  was  not  as  far  off  as  I  predicted.  Mr.  Fish 
had  a  long  nicely  made,  whiplash  wound  around  his 
waist,  and  when  I  asked  him  why  he  carried  such  a 
useless  thing,  which  he  could  not  eat,  he  said  perhaps 
he  could  trade  it  off  for  something  to  eat.  After  we 
had  set  on  a  sand  hill  and  talked  for  awhile,  we  rose 
and  shook  each  other  by  the  hand,  and  bade  each 
other  good  bye  with  quivering  lips.  There  was  with 
me  a  sort  of  expression  I  could  not  repel  that  I  should 
nevtr  see  the  middle  aged  men  again. 

As  my  road  was  now  out  and  away  from  the 
mountains,  and  level,  I  had  no  fear  of  being  surprised 
by  enemies,  so  walked  on  with  eyes  downcast,  think- 
ing over  the  situation,  and  wondering  what  would  be 
the  final  outcome.  If  I  were  alone,  with  no  one  to 
expect  me  to  help  them,  I  would  be  out  before  au}- 
other  man,  but  with  women  and  children  in  the  party, 
to  go  and  leave  them  would  be  to  pile  everlasting  in- 
famy en  my  head.  The  .thought  almost  made  me 
crazy  but  I  thought  it  would  be  better  to  stay  and  die 
with  them,  bravely  struggling  to  escape  than  to  for- 
sake them  in  their  weakness. 

It  was  almost  night  before  I  reached  our  camp,  and 
sitting   around  our  little  fire  I  told,  in  the   most   easy 


DEATH  VALLEY.  143 

way  I  could  the  unfavorable  news  of  the  party  in  ad- 
vance. They  seemed  to  look  to  me  as  a  guide  and 
adviser,  I  presume  because  I  took  much  pains  to  in- 
form myself  on  every  point  and  my  judgment  was  ac- 
cepted with  ver\^  little  opposing  opinion,  they  moved 
as  I  thought  best.  During  my  absence  from  camp  for 
the  two  da3's  the  Indians  had  shot  arrows  into  three 
of  our  oxen,  and  one  still  had  an  arrow  in  his  side  for- 
ward of  the  hip  which  was  a  dangerous  place.  To  be 
sure  and  save  him  for  ourselves  we  killde  him.  Some 
were  a  little  afraid  to  eat  the  meat  thinking  perhaps 
the  arrow  might  be  poisoned,  but  I  agreed  that  they 
wanted  meat  themselves  and  would  not  do  that.  I 
told  them  if  they  got  a  shot  themselves  i  t  would  be 
very  likely  to  be  a  poisoned  arrow  and  they  must  take 
the  most  instant  measures  to  cut  it  out  before  it  went 
into  the  blood.  So  we  ventured  to  diy  the  meat  and 
take  it  with  us. 

Now  I  said  to  the  whole  camp  "You  can  see  how 
you  have  displeased  the  red  men,  taking  their  little 
squashes,  and  when  we  get  into  a  place  that  suits  them 
for  that  purpose,  they  may  meet  us  with  a  superior 
force  and  massacre  us,  not  onh'  for  revenge  but  to  get 
our  oxen  and  clothing."  I  told  them  we  must  ever 
be  on  guard  against  a  sur])rise,  as  the  chances  were 
greatly  against   us. 

We  pulled  the  arrows  out  of  the  other  oxen,  and 
they  seemed  to  sustain  no  great  injury  from  the 
wounds.  This  little  faint  stream  where  we  camped 
has  since  been  named  as  Furnace  Creek  and  is  still 
known  as  such.  It  was  named  in  1862  by  some 
prospectors  who  built  what  was  called  an  air  furnace 
on  a  small  scale  to  reduce  some  ore  found  near  by, 
which  the}'  supposed  to  contain  silver,  but  I  believe  it 
turned  out  to  be  lead  and  too  far  from  transportations 
to  be  available. 


144  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

CHAPTER  X. 


Bennett  and  Arcane  now  concluded  not  to  wait  for 
me  to  go  ahead  and  explore  out  a  way  for  them  to 
follow,  as  I  had  done  for  a  long  time,  but  to  go  ahead 
as  it  was  evidently  the  best  way  to  turn  south  and 
make  our  own  road,  and  find  the  water  and  passes  all 
for  ourselves.  So  they  hitched  up  and  rolled  down  the 
cafion,  and  out  into  the  valley  and  then  turned  due 
south.  We  had  not  gone  long  on  this  course  before 
we  saw  that  we  must  cross  the  valle}^  and  get  over  to 
the  west  side.  To  do  this  we  must  cross  thiough 
some  w^ater,  and  for  fear  the  ground  might  be  miry,  I 
went  to  a  sand  hill  near  by  and  got  a  mesquite  stick 
about  three  feet  long  with  which  to  sound  out  our 
way.  I  rolled  up  my  pants  pulled  off  my  moccassins 
and  waded  in,  having  the  teams  stand  still  till  I  could 
find  out  whether  it  was  safe  for  them  to  follow  or  not 
by  ascertaining  the  depth  of  the  water  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  bottom. 

The  water  was  very  clear  and  the  bottom  seemed 
uneven,  there  being  some  deep  holes.  Striking  my 
stick  on  the  bottom  it  seemed  solid  as  a  rock,  and  break- 
ing oif  a  small  projecting  point  I  found  it  to  be  solid 
rock  salt.  As  the  teams  rolled  along  the)^  scarcely 
roiled  the  water.  It  looked  to  me  as  if  the  whole 
valley  which  might  be  a  hundred  miles  long  might  have 
been  a  solid  bed  of  rock  salt.  Before  we  reached  this 
water  there  were  many  solid  blocks  of  salt  lying 
around   covered    with  a  little   dirt    on  the  top. 

The  second  night  we  found  a  good  spring  of  fresh 
water  coming  out  from  the  bottom  of  the  snow  peak 
almost  over  our  heads.  The  small  flow  from  it  spread 
out  over  the  sand  and  sank  in  a    very   short   distance 


DEATH  VALLEY.  145 

and  there  was  some  quite  good  grass  growing  around. 

This  was  a  temporary  relief,  b:it  brought  us  face  to 
face  with  stranger  di!hcuUies  and  a  more  hopeless  out- 
look. 

There  was  no  possible  way  to  cross  this  high  steep 
range  of  mountains  anywhere  to  the  north  and  the 
Jayhawkers  had  abandoned  their  wagons  and  burned 
them,  and  we  could  no  longer  follow  on  the  trail  they 
made.  It  seemed  that  there  was  no  other  alternative 
but  for  us  to  keep  along  the  edge  of  the  mountain  to 
the  south  and  search  for  another  ])ass.  Some  who  had 
read  Fremont's  travels  said  that  the  range  immediately 
west  of  us  must  be  the  one  he  described,  on  the  west 
side  of  which  was  a  beautiful  country,  of  rich  soil  and 
having  plenty  of  cattle,  and  horses, and  containing 
some  settlers,  but  ou  the  east  all  was  barren,  dry, 
rocky,  sandy  desert  as  far  as  could  be  seen.  We  knew 
^this  eastern  side  answered  well  the  description  and 
believed  that  this  was  really  the  range  described,- or 
at  least  it  was  close  by. 

We  had  to  look  over  the  matter  very  carefully  and 
consider  all  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of  the 
case.  We  could  see  the  mountains  were  lower  to  the 
south,  but  they  held  no  snow  and  seemed  only  barren 
rocks  piled  up  in  lofty  peaks,  and  as  we  looked  it 
seemed  the  most  (iod-forsaken  country  in    the  world. 

We  had  been  in  the  region  loug  enougli  to  know 
the  higher  mountains  contained  most  water,  and  that 
the  valleys  had  bad  water  or  none  at  all,  so  that  while 
the  lovver  altitudes  to  the  south  gave  some  promise  of 
easier  crossing  it  gave  tB  no  promise  of  water  or 
grass,  without  which  we  m  ist  certainly  perish.  In  a 
certain  sense  we  were  lo^L  The  cleir  night  and  days 
furnished  us  with  the  mean  of  telling  the  points  of 
compass  as  the  sun  rose  and  set,  bat  not  a  sign  of  life 
m  nature's  wide  domain  had  been  seen  for  a  month  or 


146  DEATH  VAIvLEY 

more.  A  vest  pocketful  of  powder  and  shot  would 
last  a  good  hunter  till  he  starved  to  death  for  there 
was  not  a  living  thing  to  shoot  great  or  small. 

We  talked  over  our  present  position  pretty  freely,  and 
every  one  was  asked  to  speak  his  unbiassed  mind,  for 
we  knew  not  who  might  be  right  or  who  might  be 
wrong,  and  some  one  might  make  a  suggestion  of  the 
utmost  value.  We  all  felt  pretty  much  downhearted. 
Our  civilized  provisions  were  getting  so  scarce  that 
all  must  be  saved  for  the  women  and  children,  and 
the  men  must  get  along  some  wa\-  on  ox  meat  alone. 
It  was  decided  not  a  scrap  of  anything  that  would 
sustain  life  must  go  to  waste.  The  blood,  hide  and 
intestines  were  all  prepared  in  some  way  for  food. 
This  meeting  lasted  till  late  at  night.  If  some  of  them 
had  lost  their  minds  I  should  not  have  been  surprised, 
for  hunger  swallows  all  other  feelings.  A  man  in  a 
star\dng  condition  is  a  savage.  He  may  be  as  blood- 
shed and  selfish  as  a  wild  beast,  as  docile  and  gentle 
as  a  lamb,  or  as  wild  and  crazy  as  a  terrified  animal, 
devoid  of  aifection,  reason  or  thought  of  justice.  We 
were  none  of  us  as  bad  as  this,  and  yet  there  was  a 
strange  look  in  the  eyes  of  some  of  us  some- 
times, as  I  saw  by  looking  round,  and  as  others  no 
doubt  realized  for  I  saw  them  making  mysterious 
glances  even  in  mj^  direction. 

Morning  came  and  all  were  silent.  The  dim  pros- 
pect of  the  future  seemed  to  check  every  tongue. 
When  one  left  a  water  hole  he  went  away  r.s  if  in 
doubt  whether  he  would  ever  enjoy  the  pleasure  of 
another  drop.  Every  camp  was  sad  beyond  de.'cript- 
ion,  and  no  one  can  guide  the  pen  to  make  it  tell  the 
tale  as  it  seemed  to  us.  When  our  morning  meal  of 
soup  and  meat  was  finished,  Bennett's  two  teams,  and 
the  two  of  Arcane 's  concluded  their  chances  of  life 
were  better  if  they    could    take  some  provisions   and 


DEATH  VATXHV.  i47 

^strike  out  on  foot,  and  so  they  were  given  what  they 
■conld  carry,  and  they  arranged  their  packs  and  bade 
us  a  sorrowful  good  bye  hoping  to  meet  again  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  There  were  genuine  tears  shed  at  the 
parting  and  I  lielieve  neither  party  ever  expected  to 
see  each  other  in  this     life  again. 

Bennett's  two  men    were    named    Silas  Helnier  and 
S.  vS.  or  C.  C.  Abbott,  but  I  have  forgotton  the  names 
of  Arcane 's  men.      Mr.  Abbott  was  from    New  York, 
a  harness  maker  by  trade,   and    he    took    his    circular 
cutting   knife  with    him,    saying  it  was  light  to  carry 
and  the  weapon  he  should  need.     One  of  them  had  a 
gun.     They  took  the  trail  taken    by  the   Jay  hawkers. 
All    the    provisions    they    could    carry  besides    their 
blankets  could  not  last  them  to  exceed  lo  days,    and  I 
well  knew  they  could  hardly  get  off  the  desert  in    that 
time.      Mr.    Abbott    was    a    man  I  loved  fondly.      He 
was  good  company  in    camp,  and  happy  and  sociable. 
He  had  shown  no  despondency  at  any  time  untill  the 
night  of    the    last    meeting   and  the  morning    of  the 
parting.      His  chances  seemed  tome  to  be  much  poorer 
than     my  own,   but    I    hardly    think  he    realized    it. 
When  in  bed  I  could  not  keep  my  thoughts  back  from 
the  old  home  I  had  left,  where  good  water  and  a  bounti- 
ful spread  were  always  ready  at  the   proper    hour.      I 
know  I  dreamed  of  taking  a  draft  of  cool,  sweet  water 
from  a  full  pitcher  and  then  woke  up  with  my    mouth 
and  throat  as  dry  as  dust.     The  good  home  I   left  be- 
hind was  a  favorite    theme    about    the    campfire,  and 
many  a  one  told  of  the  dream  pictures,  natural  as  life, 
that  came  to  him  of  the  happy  Eastern  home  with  com- 
fort and  happiness  surrounding  it,  even  if  wealth  was 
lacking.     The  home  of  the  poorest  man  on   earth  was 
preferable  to  this  ])lace.     Wealth  was   of  value    here. 
A  board  of  twenty  dollar  gold  jMeces  could  now  stand 
before  us  the  whole  day    long  with    no    temptation  to 


148  DEATH  YAIvIvKY. 

touch  a  single  caiii,  for  its  very  weight  would  drag  us- 
nearer  death.  We  could  purchase  nothing  with  it  and 
we  would  have  cared  no  more  for  it  as  a  thing  of  value 
than  we  did  the  desert  sauds.  We  would  have  given 
much  more  for  some  of  the  snow  which  we  could  see 
drifting  over  the  peak  of  the  great  snow  mountains 
over    our  heads  like  a  dusty  cloud. 

Deeming  it  best  to  spare  the  strength  as  much  as 
possible,  I  threw  away  everything  I  could,  retaining 
only  my  glass,  some  ammunition,  sheath  knife  and 
tin  cup.  No  unnecessary  burden  could  be  put  on  any 
man  or  beast,  lest  he  lie  down  under  it,  never  to  rise 
again,  lyife  and  strength  were  sought  to  be  hus- 
banded in  every  possible  wa^^ 

lycaving  this  camp  where  the  water  was  appreciated 
we  went  over  a  road  for  perhaps  8  miles  and  came  to 
the  mouth  of  a  rocky  canon  leading  up  west  to  the 
summit  of  the  range.  This  canon  was  too  rough  for 
wagons  to  pass  over.  Out  in  the  valley  near  its  mouth 
was  a  mound  about  four  feet  high  and  in  the  top  of 
this  a  little  well  that  held  about  a  pailful  of  water  that 
was  quite  strong  of  sulphur.  When  stirred  it  would 
look  quite  black.  About  the  mouth  of  the  well  was 
a  wire  grass  that  seemed  to  prevent  it  caving  in.  It 
seems  the  drifting  sand  had  slowly  built  this  little 
mound  about  the  little  well  of  water  in  a  curious  way. 
We  spent  the  night  here  and  kept  a  man  at  the  well 
all  night  to  keep  the  water  dipped  out  as  fast  as  it 
flowed,  in  order  to  get  enough  for  ourselves  and  cattle. 
The  oxen  drank  this  water  better  than  they  did  the 
brackish  water  of   the  former  camp. 

The  plain  was  thinly  scattered  with  sagebrush,  and 
up  near  the  base  of  the  mountain  some  greasewood 
grew  in  little  bunches  like  currant  bushes. 

The  men  with  wagons  decided  they  would  take  this 
canon  and  follow  it  up  to  tr}'  to  get    over   the    range. 


DEATH  VAlvIvEY.  149 

and  not  wait  for  me  to  go  ahead  and  explore,  as  they 
said  it  took  too  much  time  and  the  provisions,  consist- 
ing now  of  only  ox  meat  were  getting  more  precarious 
every  day.  To  help  them  all  I  could  and  if  possible 
to  be  forewarned  a  little  of  danger,  I  shouldered  my 
gun  and  pushed  on  ahead  as  fast  as  I  could.  The 
bottom  was  of  sharp  broken  rock,  which  would  be 
very  hard  for  the  feet  of  the  oxen,  although  we  had 
rawhide  mocassins  for  them  for  some  time,  and  this 
was  the  kind  of  foot-gear  I  wore  myself.  I  walked 
on  as  rapidl}^  as  I  could,  and  after  a  time  came  to 
where  the  caiion  spread  out  into  a  kind  of  l)asin  en- 
>closedon  all  sides  but  the  entrance,  with  a  wall  of  hi  jh, 
steep  rock,  possible  to  ascend  on  foot  but  which  woall 
apparently  bar  the  further  progress  ofthe  wagons,  and 
I  turned  back  utterly  disappointed.  I  got  on  an  ele- 
vation where  I  could  look  over  the  country  east  and 
south,  and  it  looked  as  if  there  was  not  a  drop  of  water 
in  its  whole  extent,  and  there  was  no  snow  on  the 
dark  mountains  that  .>  tretched  awaj'  to  the  south- 
ward and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  difficulties  beset  me  on 
e  /ery  hand.  I  hurried  back  down  the  canon,  but  it 
was  nearly  dark  before  I  met  the  wagons.  By  a  mis- 
hap I  fell  and  broke  the  stock  of  my  gun,  over  which 
I  was  very  sorry,  for  it  was  an  ex:cellent  one,  the  best 
I  ever  owned.  I  carried  it  in  two  pieces  to  the  camp 
and  told  them  the  way  was  barred,  at  which  the}^ 
could  hardly  endure  their  disappointment.  The}^ 
turned  in  the  morning,  as  the  cattle  had  nothing  to 
eat  here  and  no  water,  and  not  nuich  of  any  food  since 
leaving  the  spring;  they  looked  terribly  bad,  and  the 
rough  road  coming  up  had  nearly  finished  them. 
They  were  yoked  up  and  the  wagons  turned  about  for 
the  return.  They  went  better  down  hill,  but  it  was 
not  long  before  one  of  Bennett's  oxen  lay  down,  and 
could  not  be  pursuaded  to  rise   again.     This    was    no 


I50  DEATH  VALLEY. 

place  to  tarn'  in  the  hot  sun,  so  the  ox  was  killed  and 
the  carcass  distributed  among  the  wagons.  So  little 
draft  was  required  that  the  remaining  oxen  took  the 
wagon  down.  When  within  two  or  three  miles  of  the 
water  hole  one  of  Arcane 's  oxen  also  failed  and  la}- 
down,  so  they  turned  him  out  and  when  he  had  rested 
a  little  he  came  on  again  for  a  while,  but  soon  lay 
down  again. 

Arcane  took  a  bucket  of  water  back  from  camp  and 
after  drinking  it  and  resting  awhile  the  ox  was  driven 
down  to  the  spring. 

This  night  we  had  another  meeting  to  decide  upon 
our  course  and  determine  what  to  do.  At  this  meet- 
ing no  one  was  wiser  than  another,  for  no  one  had  ex- 
plored the  country  and  knew  what  to  expect.  The 
questions  that  now  arose  were  "How  long  can  we 
endure  this  work  in  this  situation?"  How  long  will 
our  oxen  be  able  to  endure  the  great  hardship  on 
the  small  nourishment  they  receive?"  How  long  can 
we  provide  ourselves  with  food?" 

We  had  a  few  small  pieces  of  dry  bread.  This  was 
kept  for  the  children  giving  them  a  little  now  and 
then.  Our  only  food  was  in  the  flesh  of  the  oxen,  and 
when  they  failed  to  carry  themselves  along  we  must 
begin  to  starve.  It  began  to  look  as  if  the  chances 
of  leaving  our  bones  to  bleach  ui:)on  the  desert  were 
the  most  prominent  ones. 

One  thing  was  certain  we  must  move  somewhere  at 
once.  If  we  stay  here  we  can  live  as  long  as  the 
oxen  do,  and  no  longer,  and  if  we  go  on  it  is  un- 
certain where  "to  go,  to  get  a  better  place.  We  had 
guns  and  ammunition  to  be  sure,  but  of  late  we  had 
seen  no  living  creature  in  this  desert  wild.  Finall}- 
Mr.  Bennett  spoke  and    said: — 

"Now  I  will  make  you  a  proposition.  "  "I  propose 
that  we  select  two  of  our  youngest,  strongest  men  and 


DEATH  VALLEY  151 

ask  them  to  take  some  food  and  go  ahead  on  foot  to  try 
to  seek  a  settlement,  and  food,  and  we  will  go  back  to 
the  good  spring  we  have  just  left  and  wait  for  their 
return.  It  will  surely  not  take  them  more  than  ten 
days  for  the  trip,  and  when  they  get  back  we  shall 
know  all  about  the  road  and  its  character  and  how 
long  it  will  take  us  to  travel  it.  They  can  secure 
some  other  kind  of  food  that  will  make  us  feel  better, 
and  when  the  oxen  have  rested  a  little  at  the  spring 
we  can  get  out  with  our  wagons  and  animals  and  be 
safe.     I  think  this  is  the  best    and   safest  way. 

Now  what  do  you  all  say?"  After  a  little  discussion 
all  seemed  to  agree  that  this  was  the  best,  and  now  it 
remained  to  find  the  men  to  go.  No  one  offered  to 
accept  the  position  of  advance  messengers.  Finally 
Mr.  Bennett  said  he  knew  one  man  well  enough  to 
know  that  he  would  come  back  if  he  lived,  and  he  was 
sure  he  would  push  his  way  through.  "I  will  take 
Lewis  (mj'self)  if  he  will  consent  to  go. ' '  I  consented, 
though  I  knew  it  was  a  hazardous  journey,  exposed 
to  all  .sorts  of  things,  Indians,  climate Jand  probable 
lack  of  water,  but  1  thought  I  could  do  it  and  would 
not  refuse.  John  Rogers  a  large  strong  Tennessee, 
man  was  then  chosen  as  the  other  one  and  he  con- 
sented also. 

Now  preparations  began,  Mr.  Arcane  killed  the  ox 
which  had  so  nearly  failed,  and  all  the  men  went  to 
drying  and  preparing  meat.  Others  made  us  some 
new  mocassins  out  of  rawhide,  and  the  women  made 
us  each  a  knapsack. 

Our  meat  was  closely  packed,  and  one  can  form  an 
idea  how  poor  our  cattle  were  from  the  fact  that  John 
and  I  actually  packed  seven-eighths  of  all  the  flesh 
of  an  ox  into  our  knapsacks  and  carried  it  away. 
They  put  in  a  couple  of  spoonfuUs  of  rice  and  about 
as  much  tea.     This  seemed  like  robbery  to  the  children , 


152  DEATH  V ALLEY. 

but  the  good  women  said  that  in  case  of  sickness  even 
that  little  bit  niijht  save  oar  lives.  I  wore  no  coat  or 
vest,  but  took  half  of  a  light  blanket,  while  Rogers 
wore  a  thin  summer  coat  and  took  no  blanket.  We 
each  had  a  small  tin  cup  and  a  small  camp  kettle 
holding  a  quart.  Bennett  had  me  take  his  ssven- 
shooter  rifle,  and  Rogers  had  a  good  double  barreled 
shot  gun.  We  each  had  a  sheath  knife,  and  our  hats 
were  small  brimmed,  drab  affairs  fitting  close  to  the 
head  and  not  very  conspicuous  to  an  enemy  as  we 
might  rise  up  from  behind  a  hill  into  possible  views. 
We  tried  on  our  packs  and  fitted  the  straps  a  little  so 
the}^  would  carr}^  easy.  They  collected  all  the  money 
there  was  in  camp  and  gave  it  to  us.  Mr.  Arcane 
had  about  $30  and  others  threw  in  small  amounts  from 
forty  cents  upward.  We  received  all  sorts  of  advice. 
Capt.  Culverwell  was  an  old  sea  faring  man  and 
was  going  to  tell  us  how  to  find  our  way  back,  but 
Mr.  Bennett  told  the  captain  that  he  had  known 
Lewis  as  a  hunter  for  many  years,  and  that  if  he  went 
over  a  place  in  the  daytime  he  could  find  his  way 
back  at  night  every  time.  Others  cautioned  us  about 
the  Indians  and  told  us  how  to  manage.  Others  told 
us  not  to  get  caught  in  deep  snow  which  we  might 
find  on  the  mountains. 

This  advice  we  received  in  all  the  kindness  in  which 
it  was  given,  and  then  he  bade  them  all  good  bye. 
Some  turned  away,  too  much  affected  to  approach  us 
and  others,  shook  our  hands  with  deep  feeling,  grasp- 
ing them  firmly  and  heartl)^  hoping  we  would  be  suc- 
cessful and  be  able  to  pilot  them  out  of  this  dreary 
place  into  a  better  land.  Every  one  felt  that  a  little 
food  to  make  a  change  from  the  poor  dried  meat  would 
be  acceptable.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  and  J.  B. 
Arcane  and  wife  were  the  last  to  remain  when  the 
others  had  turned  awa)\     They  had  most  faith  in  the 


DEATH  VAIvIvKY.  153 

plan  and  felt  deeply.  Mrs.  Bennett  was  the  last,  and 
she  asked  God  to  bless  us  and  bring  some  food  to  her 
starving  children. 

We  were  so  much  affected  that  we  could  not  s])eak 
and  silently  turned  away  and  took  our  course  again 
up  the    canyon    we    had    descended  the  night  before. 

After  a  while  we  looked  back  and  -when  they  saw 
us  turn  around,  all  the  hats  and  bonnets  waved  us 
a  final  parting. 

Those  left  in  the  camp  were  Asabel,  Bennett  and 
Sarah  his  wife,  with  three  children,  George,  Melissa, 
and  Martha;  J.  B.  Arcane  and  wife  with  .son  Charles. 
The  youngest  children  were  not  more  than  two  years 
old.  There  were  also  the  two  Karhart  brothers,  and 
a  grown  son,  Capt.  Culverwell,  and  some  others  I 
cannot  recall;  eleven  grown  peoj^le  in  all,  besides  a 
Mr.  Wade,  his  wife  and  three  children  who  did  not 
mingle  with  our  party,  but  usually  camped  a  little 
distance  off,  followed  our  trail,  but  seemed  to  shun 
company.  We  soon  passed  round  a  bend  of  the 
canon,  and  then  walked  on  in  silence. 

We  both  of  us  meditated  some  over  the  homes  of 
our  fathers,  but  took  new  courage  in  view  of  the  im- 
portance of  our  mission  and  passed  on  as  fast  as  we 
could. 

By  night  we  were  far  up  the  mountain,  near  the 
perpendicular  rough  peak,  and  far  above  us  on  a  slope 
we  could  see  some  bunches  of  gra.ss  and  sage  bru.sh. 
We  went  to  this  and  found  some  .small  water  holes. 
No  water  ran  from  them  they  were  so  small.  Here 
w^e  staid  all  night.  It  did  not  seem  very  far  to  the 
snowy  peak  to  the  north  of  us.  Just  where  we  were 
seemed  the  lowest  pass,  for  to  the  south  were  higher 
peaks  and  the  rocks  looked  as  if  they  were  too  steep 
to  be  got  over. 

Through  this  gap  came  a  cold  breeze,     and  we  had 


154  DEATH  VALLEY. 

to  look  round  to  get  a  sheltered  place  in  which  to 
sleep.  We  lay  down  close  together,  spoon  fashion, 
and  made  the  little  blanket  do  as  cover  for  the  both  of 
us.  In  the  morning  we  filled  our  canteens,  which  we 
had  made  by  binding  two  powder  cans  together  with. 
strips  of  cloth,  and  started  for  the  summit  near  by. 
From  this  was  the  grandest  sight  we  ever  beheld. 
Looking  east  we  could  see  the  country  we  had  been 
crawling  over  since  November  4th.  "Just  look  at 
the  cursed  country  we  have  come  over!"  said  Rogers 
as  he  pointed  over  it.  To  the  north  was  the  biggest 
mountain  we  ever  saw,  peaks  on  peaks  and  towering 
far  above  our  heads,  and  co'-^ered  with  snow  which 
was  apparently  everlasting. 

This  mountain  seemed  to  have  verv  few  trees  on  it, 
and  in  extent,  as  it  reached  away  to  the  north  seemed 
interminable.  South  was  a  nearly  level  plain,  and 
to  the  west  I  thought  I  could  dimly  see  a  range  of 
mountains  that  held  a  little  snow  upon  their  summits, 
but  on  the  main  range  to  the  south  there  was 
none.  It  seemed  to  me  the  dim  snowy  mountains 
must  be  as  far  as  200  miles  away,  but  of  course  I 
could  not  judge  accurately.  After  looking  at  this 
grand,  but  worthless  landscape  long  enough  to  take 
in  its  principal  features  we  asked  each  other  what  we 
supposed  the  people  we  left  behind  would  think  to 
see  mountains  so  far  ahead.  We  knew  that  they  had 
an  idea  that  the  coast  range  was  not  very  far  ahead, 
but  we  saw  at  once  to  go  over  all  these  mountains  and 
return  within  the  limits  of  fifteen  days  which  had 
been  agreed  upon  between  us,  would  probably  be  im- 
possible, but  we  must  try  as  best  we  could,  so  down 
the  rocky  steep  we  clambered  and  hurried  on  our  way. 
In  places  the  way  was  so  steep  that  we  had  to  help 
each  other  down,  and  the  hard  work  made  us  perspire 
freely  so  that  the  water  was  a  prime  necessity. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  155 

111  one  place  near  here,  we  found  a  little  water  and  filled 
our  canteens,  besides  drinking  a  good  present  supply. 
There  were  two  low,  black  rocky  ranges  directly 
ahead  of  us  which  we  must  cross. 

When  part  way  down  the  mountain  a  valley  or  de- 
pression opened  up  in  that  direction  up  which  it 
seemed  as  if  we  could  look  a  hundred  miles.  Near 
by  and  a  short  distance  nofth  was  a  lake  of  water  and 
when  we  reached  the  valley  we  crossed  a  clear  stream 
of  water  flowing  slowl}'  toward  the  lake. 

Being  in  need  of  water,  we  rushed  eagerly  to  it  and 
prepared  to  take  a  big  drink,  but  the  tempting  fluid 
was  as  salt  as  brine  and  made  our  thirst  all  the  more 
intolerable.  Nothing  grew  on  the  bank  of  this  stream 
and  the  bed  was  of  hard  clay,  which  glistened  in  the 
sun. 

We  now  began  the  ascent  of  the  next  ridge,  keeping 
a  westernly  course,  and  walked  as  fast  as  we  could  up 
the  rough  mountain  side.  We  crossed  the  head  of  a 
canon  near  the  summit  about  dark,  and  here  we 
found  a  trail,  which  from  indications  we  knew 
to  be  that  of  the  Jayhawkers,  who  had  evidently  been 
forced  to  the  southward  of  the  course  they  intended  to 
take.  They  had  camped  here  and  had  dug  holes  in 
the  sand  in    search  of    water,    but  had  found    none. 

We  staid  all  night  here  and  dug  around  in  some 
other  places  in  the  bottom  of  the  canon,  in  the  hope 
to  have  better  luck  than  they  did,  but  we  got  no  water 
anywhere. 

We  seemed  almost  perishing  for  want  of  water,  the 
hard  exercise  made  us  perspire  so  freely.  In  the 
morning  we  started  on,  and  near  the  summit  we  came 
to  the  dead  body  of  Mr.  Fish,  laying  in  the  hot  sun, 
as  there  w^as  no  material  near  here  with  which  his 
friends  could  cover  the  remains.  This  Mr.  Fish  was 
the  man    who  left   camp   some   two    weeks    before  in 


156  DEATH  VALLEY. 

company  with  another  and  who  carried  the  long  whip- 
lash wound  about  his  body,  in  hope  he  could  some- 
where be  able  to  trade  it  for  bread.  Xo  doubt  in  this 
very  place  where  he  breathed  his  last,  his  bones  still 
lie. 

As  we  came  in  sight  of  the  next  valley,  we  could 
see  a  lake  of  water  some  distance  south  of  our  western 
course. 

We  had  followed  the  Jayhawkers  trail  thus  far,  but 
as  we  found  no  water  in  small  holes  in  the  rocks  as 
we  w^ere  likely  to  do  when  we  were  the  first  to  pass, 
we  decided  to  take  a  new  route  in  the  hope  to  find  a 
little  water  in  this  way,  for  we  had  no  hope  of  finding 
it  in  any  other.  This  valle}'  we  now  crossed  seemed 
to  come  to  an  end  about  ten  miles  to  the  north  of  us. 
To  the  south  it  widened  out,  enclosing  the  lake 
spoken  of.  This  valley  was  very  sandy  and  hard  to 
walk  over.  When  about  halfway  across  we  saw  some 
ox  tracks  leading  toward  the  lake,  and  in  the  hope 
we  might  find  the  water  drinkable  we  turned  off  at 
right  angles  to  our  course  and  went  that  wa}^  also. 
Long  before  we  reached  the  water  of  the  lake,  the 
bottom  became  a  thin 'si' my  mud  which  was  very  hard 
on  our  mocassins.  When  we  reached  the  water  we 
found  it  to  be  of  a  wine  color,  and  so  strongly  alkaline 
as  to  feel  slippery  to  the  touch,  and  under   our  feet. 

This  side  trip,  had  cost  us  much  exertion  and  made 
us  feel  more  thirsty  than  ever. 

We  turned  now  west  again,  making  for  a  cation,  up 
which  we  passed  in  the  hope  we  should  at  some  turn 
find  a  little  basin  of  rain  water  in  some  rock.  We  traveled 
in  it  miles  and  miles,  and  our  mouths  became  so  dr}- 
we  had  to  put  a  bullet  or  a  small  smooth  stone  in  and 
chew  it  and  turn  it  around  with  the  tongue  to  induce 
a  flow  of  saliva.  If  we  saw  a  spear  of  green  grass  on 
the  north  side  of    a   rock,    it  was  quickh'  pulled  and 


DEATH  VAT.LEY.  i57 

eaten  to  obtain  the  little  moisture  it  contained. 

Thus  we  traveled  along  for  hours,  never  speaking, 
for  we  found  it  much  better  for  our  thirst  to  keep  our 
mouths  closed  as  much  as  possible,  and  prevent  the 
evaporation.  The  drj-  air  of  that  region  took  up 
water  as  a  sponge  does.  We  passed  the  summit  of 
this  ridge  without  finding  any  water,  and  on  our  way 
down  the  western  side  we  came  to  a  flat  place  where 
there  was  an  Indian  hut  made  of  small  brush.  We 
now  thought  there  surely  must  be  some  water  near 
and  we  began  a  thorough  search.  The  great  snow 
mountain  did  not  seem  far  off.  but  to  the  south  and 
southwest  a  level  or  inclined  plain  extended  for  a  long 
distance.  Our  thirst  began  to  be  something  terrible 
to  endure,  and  in  the  warm  weather  and  hard  walking 
we  had  secured  only  two  drinks  since  leaving  camp. 
We  were  so  sure  that  there  must  be  water  near 
here  that  we  laid  our  knapsaJ.:s  down  by  the  little 
hut  and  looked  around  in  every  possible  place  we 
could  think  of.  Soon  it  got  dark  and  then  we  made  a 
little  fire  as  a  guide  and  looked  again.  vSoon  the 
moon  arose  and  helped  us  some,  and  we  shouted 
frequently  to  each  other  so  as  not  to  get  lost. 

We  were  so  nearly  worn  out  that  we  tried  to  eat  a 
little  meat,  but  after  chewing  a  long  time,  the  mouth 
would  not  moisten  it  enough  so  we  could  swallow, 
and  we  had  to  reject  it.  It  seemed  as  if  we  were 
going  to  die  with  plenty  of  food  in  our  hand,  because 
we  could  not  eat  it. 

We  tried  to  sleep  but  could  not,  but  after  a  little  rest 
we  noticed  a  bright  star  two  hours  above  the  horizon, 
and  from  the  course  of  the  moon  we  saw  the  star  must 
be  pretty  truly  west  of  us.  We  talked  a  little,  and 
the  burden  of  it  was  a  fear  that  we  could  not  endure 
the  terrible  thirst  a  while  longer.  The  thought  of  the 
women  and  children  waiting  for  our    return  made  us 


158  DEATH  VALLEY. 

feel  more  desperate  than  if  we  were  the  only  ones  con- 
cerned. We  thought  we  could  fight  to  the  death  over 
a  water  hole  if  we  could  only  secure  a  little  of  the 
precious  fluid.  No  one  who  has  ever  felt  the  extreme 
of  thirst  can  imagine  the  distress,  the  dispair,  which 
it  brings.  I  can  find  no  words,  no  way  to  express  it 
so  others  can  understand. 

The  moon  gave  us  so  much  light  that  we  decided 
we  would  start  on  our  course,  and  get  as  far  as  we 
could  before  the  hot  sun  came  out,  and  so  we  went  on 
slowly  and  carefully  in  the  partial  darkness,  the  only 
hope  left  to  us  being  that  our  strength  would  hold  out 
till  we  could  get  to  the  shining  snow  on  the  great 
movintain  before  us.  We  reached  the  foot  of  the  range 
w^e  were  descending  about  sunrise.  There  was  here 
a  wide  wash  from  the  snow  mountain,  down  which 
some  water  had  sometime  run  after  a  big  storm,  and 
had  divided  into  little  rivulets  only  reaching  out  a 
little  way  before  they  had  sunk  into  the  sand. 

We  had  no  idea  we  could  now  find  any  water  till 
we  at  least  got  very  near  the  snow,  and  as  the  best 
way  to  reach  it  we  turned  up  the  wash  although 
the  course  was  nearly  to  the  north.  The  course  was 
up  a  gentle  grade  and  seemed  quite  sandy  and  not 
easy  to  travel.  It  looked  as  if  there  was  an  all  day 
walk  before  us,  and  it  was  quite  a  question  if  we 
could  live  long  enough  to  make  the  distance.  There 
were  quite  strong  indications  that  the  water  had  run 
here  not  so  very  long  ago,  and  we  could  trace  the 
course  of  the  little  streams  round  among  little  sandy 
islands.  A  little  stunted  .brush  grew  here  but  it  was 
so  brittle  that  the  stems  would  break  as  easy  as  an 
icicle. 

In  order  to  not  miss  a  possible  bit  of  water  we 
separated  and  agreed  upon  a  general  course,  and  that 
if  either  one  found  water  he   should  fire  his  gun  as  a 


DEATH  VALLEY.  159 

signal.  After  about  a  mile  or  so  had  been  gone 
over  I  heard  Roger's  gun  and  went  in  his  direction. 
He  had  found  a  little  ice  that  had  frozen  under 
the  clear  sky.  It  was  not  thicker  than  window  glass. 
After  putting  a  piece  in  our  mouths  we  gathered  all  we 
could  and  put  it  into  the  little  quart  camp  kettle  to 
melt.  We  gathered  just  a  kettle  full,  besides  what 
we  ate  as  we  were  gathering,  and  kindled  a  little 
fire  and  melted  it. 

I  can  but  think  how  providential  it  was  that  we 
started  in  the  night  for  in  an  hour  after  the  sun  had 
risen  that  little  sheet  of  ice  would  have  melted  and  the 
water  sank  into  the  sand.  Having  quenched  our 
thirst  we  could  now  eat,  and  found  that  we  were  nearly 
starved  also.  In  making  this  meal  we  used  up  all 
our  little  store  of  water,  but  we  felt  refreshed  and  our 
lives  renewed  so  that  we  had  better  courage  to  go  on. 

We  now  took  our  course  west  again  taking  a  bee 
line  for  a  bluff  that  lay  a  little  to  the  .south  of  the 
big  snow  mountain.  On  and  on  we  walked  till  the 
dark  shadow  of  the  great  mountain  in  the  setting  sun 
was  thrown  about  us,  and  still  we  did  not  seem  more 
than  half  way  to  the  bluff  before  us. 

All  the  way  had  been  hill  and  very  tiresome  walk- 
ing. There  was  considerable  small  brush  scattered 
about,   here  and  there,  over  this  steeply  inclined  plain. 

We  were  still  several  miles  from  the  base  of  this 
largest  of  the  mountains  and  we  could  now  .see  that  it 
extended  west  for  many  miles.  The  buttes  to  the 
south  were  low,  black  and  barren,  and  to  the  west 
as  far  as  we  could  see  there  were  no  mountains  with 
anj'  snow.  As  the  sun  got  further  down  we  could 
see  a  small  smoke  curling  up  near  the  ba.se  of  the 
mountain,  and  we  thought  it  must  be  some  signal 
made  by  the  Indians,  as  we  ha  1  -.  f.en  seen  them 
signal  in  that  way,     but    we  stoppe  1    and  talked  the 


i6o  DEATH  VALIvEY, 

matter  over,  and  as  we  were  yet  a  long  way  from  the 
bluff  which  had  been  our  objective  point,  we  con- 
cluded we  would  investigate  the  smoke  signal 
a  little  closer.  So  we  set  off  toward  it  in  the  dusk 
and  darkness  and  when  within  about  a  mile  we  found 
we  were  in  a  tract  that  had  been  somewhat  beaten. 
Feeling  with  my  fingers  I  was  quite  sure  I  could  dis- 
tinguish ox  tracks,  and  then  was  quite  sure  that  we 
had  overtaken  the  Jayhawkers,  or  at  least  were  on 
their  trail.  And  then  I  thought  perhaps  they  had 
fallen  among  the  Indians,  who  now  might  be  feasting 
on  their  oxen  and  it  became  necessarv  to  use  great 
caution  in  approaching  the  little  smoke. 

We  took  a  circuitous  route  and  soon  saw  that  the 
persons  were  on  a  little  bench  above  us  and  we  kept 
very  cautious  and  quiet,  listening  for  any  sounds  that 
might  tell  us  who  they  were. 

If  they  were  Indians  we  should  probably  hear  some 
of  their  dogs,  but  we  heard  none,  and  kept  creeping 
closer  and  closer,  till  we  were  within  fifty  yards  with- 
out hearing  a  sound  to  give  us  any  idea  of  who  they 
were. 

We  decided  to  get  our  guns  at  fall  cock  and  then 
hail  the  camp,  feeling  that  we  had  a  little  the  advantage 
of  position.  We  hailed  and  were  answered  in  English. 
"Don't  Shoot"  said  we  and  they  assured  us  they  had 
no  idea  of  .such  a  thing,  and  asked  us  to  come  in. 
We  foundheretooursurpri.se,  Ed  Doty,  Tom  Shannon, 
E.  D.  Stevens,  and  others  whom  I  do  not  recollect, 
tbe  real  Jayhawkers.  They  gave  us  some  fresh  meat 
for  supper,  and  near  the  camp  were  some  water  holes 
that  answered  well    for  camp  purposes. 

Here  an  ox  had  given  out  and  they  had  stopped 
long  enough  to  dry  the  meat,  while  the  others  had 
gone  on  a  day  [ehead. 

Coming    around    the  mountain  from  the  north  was 


DEATH  VALLEY.  i6i 

quite  a  well  defined  trail,  leading  to  the  west  and  they 
said  they  were  satisfied  some  one  lived  at  the  end  of 
it,  and  thi.y  were  going  to  follow  it  if  it  lead  to  Mexico 
or  anywhere  else.  They  said  that  Mr.  Brier  and  his 
family  were  still  on  behind,  and  alone.  Every  one 
mnst  look  out  for  himself  here,  and  we  could  not  do 
much  for  another  in  any  way. 

We  inquired  of  them  about  the  Irail  over  which 
they  had  come,  and  where  they  had  found  water,  and 
we  told  them  of  our  experience  in  this  respect.  We 
then  related  how  our  train  could  not  go  over  the 
mountains  with  wagons,  how^  they  had  returned  to  the 
best  spring,  and  that  we  started  to  go  through  to  the 
settlements  to  obtain  relief  while  the}-  waited  for  our 
return.  We  explained  to  them  how  they  must  perish 
without  assistance.  If  we  failed  to  get  through,  they 
could  probably  live  as  long  as  the  oxen  lasted  and 
would  then  perish  of  starvation.  We  told  them  how 
nearly  we  came  to  the  point  of  perishing  that  very 
morning,  of  thirst,  and  how  we  were  saved  b}-  finding 
a  little  patch  of  ice  in  an  unexpected  place,  and  were 
thus  enabled  to  come    on    another  days   travel. 

These  men  were  not  as  cheerful  as  they  used  to  be 
and  their  situation  and  prospects  constantly  occupied 
their  minds.  They  said  to  us  that  if  the  present  trail 
bore  away  from  the  moinitain  and  crossed  the  1  evel 
plain,  that  there  were  some  of  them  who  could  not 
possibly  get  along  safely  to  the  other  side.  Some 
were  completely  discouraged,  and  some  were  com- 
pletely out  of  provisions  and  dependent  on  those  who 
had  either  provisions  or  oxen  yet  on  hand.  An  ox 
was  frequently  killed,  they  said,  and  no  part  of  it  was 
wasted.  At  a  camp  where  there  was  no  water,  for 
stewing,  a  piece  or  hide  would  be  prepared  for  eating 
by  singeing  off  the  hair  and  then  roasting  in  the  fie. 
The  small  intestines    were  drawn  through    the  fingers 


1 62  DEATH  VALI.EY. 

to  clean  them,  and  these  when  roasted  made  very  fair 
food. 

The}'  said  they  had  been  without  water  for  four  or 
five  days  at  a  time  and  came  near  starving  to  death, 
for  it  was  impossible  to  swallow  food  when  one  became 
so  thirsty.  They  described  the  pangs  of  hunger  as 
something  terrible  and  not  to  be  described.  They 
were  willing  to  give  us  any  information  w.e  desired 
and  we  anxiously  received  all  we  could,  for  on  our  re- 
turn we  desired  to  take  the  best  possible  route,  and 
we  thus  had  the  experience  of  two  parties  instead  of 
one.  They  told  us  about  the  death  of  Mr.  Fish  and 
Mr.  Isham,  and  w^here  we  would  find  their  bodies 
if  we  went  over  their  trail. 

In  the  morning  we  shouldered  our  packs  again  and 
took  the  trail  leading  to  the  west,  and  by  night  we  had 
overtaken  the  advance  party  of  the  Jayhawkers, 
camped  in  a  canon  where  there  was  a  little  water^ 
barely  sufficient  for  their  use.  We  inquired  why  they 
did  not  take  the  trail  leading  more  directly  west  at  the 
forks,  and  they  said  they  feared  it  would  lead  them 
into  deep  snow  which  would  be  impassible.  They 
said  they  considered  the  trail  they  had  taken  as  al- 
together the  safest  one. 

We  met  Bennett  and  Arcane 's  teamsters,  and  as 
we  expected  they  were  already  out  of  grub  and  no 
way  to  get  anymore.  When  the  party  killed  an  ox 
they  had  humbly  begged  for  some  of  the  poorest 
parts,  and  thus  far  were  alive.  They  came  to  us  and 
very  pitifulh'  told  us  they  were  entirely  out,  and 
although  an"  ox  had  been  killed  that  day  they  had  not 
been  able  to  get  a  mouthful.  We  divided  up  our 
meat  and  gave  them  some  although  we  did  not  know 
how  long  it  would  be  before  we  would  ourselves  be  in 
the  same  situation. 

Thus  far  we  had  not  seen    anything    to  shoot,     big 


DEATH  VALLEY  163 

or  little  although  we  kept  a  sharp  lookout" 
The  whole  camp  was  silent,  and  all  seemed  to  realize 
their  situation.  Before  them  was  a  level  plain  which 
had  the  appearance  of  being  so  broad  as  to  take 
five  or  six  days  to  cross.  Judging  by  the  look  from  the 
top  of  the  mountain  as  we  came  over,  there  was  little 
to  hope  for  in  the  way  of  water.  We  thought  it  over 
very  seriously.  All  the  water  we  could  carry  would 
be  our  canteens  full,  perhaps  two  drinks  apiece  and  the 
poor  meat  had  so  little  nourishment  that  we  were 
weak  and  unable  to  endure  what   we  once  could. 

We  were  alone,  Rogers  a. id  I,  in  interest  at  any 
rate,  even  if  there  were  other  men  about.  For  the 
time  it  really  seemed  as  if  there  was  very  little  hope 
for  us  and  I  have  often  repeated  the  following  lines 
as  very  closely  describing  my  own  feelings  at  that 
time. 

Oh  hands,  whose  loving,    gentle  grasp  I  loosed. 
When  first  this  weary  journey  was  begun. 

If  I  could  feel  your  touch    as  once  I  could. 
How  glidly  would  1  wish  my  work    undone. 

Harriet  Kiyiion. 
During  the  evening,  I  had  a  talk  with  Capt.  Asa 
Haines,  in  which  he  said  he  left  a  good  home  in  Illinois, 
where  he  had  everything  he  could  wish  to  eat,  and 
every  necessary  comfort,  and  even  some  to  spare,  and 
now  he  felt  so  nearly  worn  out  that  he  had  many 
doubts  whether  he  could  live  to  reach  the  mountains, 
on  the  other  side.  He  was  .so  deeply  impressed 
that  he  made  me  promise  to  let  his  wife  and 
family  know  how  I  found  him  and  how  he  died,  for 
he  felt  sure  he  would  never  see  the  California  mines. 
I  said  I  might  not  get  through  myself,  but  he  thought 
we  were  so  young  and  strong  that  we  would  struggle 
through.  He  said  if  he  could  only  be  home  once 
more  he  would  be    content    to    stav.     This    was  the 


i64  DEATH  \'ALLEY. 

general  tenor  of  the  conversation.  There  was  no 
mirth,  no  jokes,  and  ever}'  one  seemed  to  feel  that  he 
was  very  near  the  end  of  his  life,  and  su.ch  a  death 
as  stood  before  them,  choking,  starving  in  a  desert 
was  the  most  drear\-  ontlook  I  ever  saw. 

This  camp  of  trouble,  of  forlorn  hope,  on  the  edge 
of  a  desert  stretching  out  before  us  like  a  small  sea, 
with  no  hope  for  relief  except  at  the  end  of  a  struggle 
which  seemed  almost  hopeless,  is  more  than  an\'  pen 
can  paint,  or  at  all  describe.  The  writer  had  tried  it 
often.  Picture  to  yourself,  dear  reader  the  situation 
and  let  your  own  imagination  do  the  rest.  It  can 
never  come  up  to  the  reality. 

In  the  morning,  as  Rogers  and  I  were  about  to 
start,  several  of  the  oldest  men  came  to  us  with  their 
addresses  and  wished  us  to  forward  them  to  their 
families  if  we  ever  got  within  the  the  reach  of  mails. 
These  men  shed  tears,  and  we  did  also  as  we  parted. 
We  turned  silently  away  and  again  took  up  our  march. 

As  we  went  down  the  caiion  we  came  to  one 
place  where  it  was  so  narrow,  that  a  man  or  a  poor 
ox  could  barely  squeeze  through  between  the  rocks, 
and  in  a  few  miles  more  reac'.ied  the  open  level  plain. 
When  three  or  four  miles  out  on  the  trail  and  not  far 
from  the  hills  we  came  to  a  bunch  of  quite  tall 
willows.  The  center  of  the  bunch  had  been  cut  out 
and  the  branches  woven  in  so  as  to  make  a  sort  of 
corral.  In  the  center  of  this  was  a  spring  of  good 
water  and  some  good  grass  growing  around.  This 
was  pretty  good  evidence  that  some  one  had  been  here 
before.  We  took  a  good  drink  and  fiilled  our  canteens 
anew,  for  we  did  not  expect  to  get  another  drink  for 
two  or  three  days  at  least. 

"^Ve  took  the  trail  again  and  hurried  on  as 
the  good  water  made  us  feel  quite  fresh.  After  a  few 
miles  we  began  to  find    the     bones  of    animals,  some 


DEATH  VALLEY.  165 

badly    decayed    and    some    well  preserved.      All  the 
heads  were  those  of  horses,  and  it  puzzled  us  to  know 
where    they    came    from.     As    we  passed    along-  we 
noticed  the  trail  was  on  a  slight  up    grade    and  some- 
what crooked.      If  we  stepped  off  from  it  the  foot  sank 
in  about  two  inches  in  dirt  finer  than  the  finest  flour. 
The  bones  were    scattered  all    along,     sometimes  the 
bones  of  several  animals  together.     Was    it    the  long 
drive,     poison    water,    or  what?     It  was  evident  they 
had  not  been  killed  but  had  dropped    along  the  way. 
It  was  a  dreary  trail  at  best,  and  these  evidences  of 
death    did    not   help  to  brighten  it  in  the  least.     We 
wondered     often  where  it  led  to  and  what  new  things 
would  be  our  experience.     After  walking    fast  all  day 
w^e  came  to  quite  an  elevation,  where  we    could  stand 
and  look  in  all  directions.   The  low  black  range  where 
we  left    the  Jayhawkers  was  in    sight,   and  this  spur 
of  the  great  snowy  mountains  extended  a  long  way  to 
the  south,  and  seemed  to  get  lower   and  lower,  finally 
ending  in  low  rocky    buttes,   a    bundled  miles  away. 
Some    may  think    this    distance    very  far  to  see,  but 
those  who  have  ever  seen  the  clear  atmosphere  of  that 
region  will  bear  me  out  in  these  magnificent  distances. 
Generally  a  mountain  or  other  object  seen  at  a  distance 
would  be  three  or  four  limes  as    far    off  as  one  would 
judge  at  first  sight,  so  deceptive  are  appearances  there. 
The  broad  south  end  of  the  great  mountain  which  we 
first  saw  the  next  morning  after  we  left   the    wagons, 
was  now  plain  in  sight,  and  peak  afier  peak  extending 
away    to    the    north,     all  of    them  white  with  snow. 
Standing  thus    out    in     the    plain     we  could  see  the 
breadth  of  the  mountain  east  and  west,  and  it    seemed 
as  though  it  must  have  been  nearly  a  hundred  miles. 
The  south  end  was  very  abrupt  and  sank  as    one    into 
a  great  plain  in  which  we  stood,  twenty  miles  from  the 
mountain's  base. 


1 66  DEATH  YALLEY. 

To  the  northwest  we  could  see  a  clay  lake,  or  at 
least  that  was  what  we  called  it,  and  a  line  of  low 
hills  seemed  to  be  an  extension  of  the  mountain  in  a 
direction  swinging  around  to  the  south  to  enclose  this 
thirst}-,  barren  plain  before  us,  which  was  bounded  by 
mountains  or  hills  on  thej^e  sides.  To  the  south  this 
range  seemed  to  get  higher,  and  we  could  see  some 
snow  capped  mountains  to  the  south  of  our  westerly 
course.  The  low  mountains  as  those  seen  in  the  north- 
west direction  is  the  same  place  now  crossed  by  the 
Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  and  known  as  the  Tehachipi 
pass,  the  noted  loop,  in  which  the  railroad  crosses 
itself,  benig  on  the  west  slope  and  Ft.  Tejon  being 
on  the  same  range  a  little  further  south  where  the 
Sierra  Nevada  mountains  and  the  Coast  Range  join. 
The  first  mountain  bearing  snow,  south  of  our  course 
was  probably  what  is  know  as  Wilson's  peak,  and  the 
high  mountains  still  farther  south,  the  San  Bernardmo 
mountains.  There  were  no  names  there  known  to  us 
nor  did  we  know  anything  of  the  topography  of  the 
country  except  that  we  supposed  a  range  of  mountains 
was  all  that  separated  us  from  California. 

We  were  yet  in  the  desert,  and  if  we  kept  our  due 
west  course,  we  must  cross  some  of  the  snow  before 
us  which  if  steep  gave  us  some  doubts  whether  we 
could  get  through  or  not. 

We  did  not  know  exactly  what  the  people  left  be- 
hind would  do  if  we  were  gone  longer  than  we  in- 
tended, but  if  they  started  on  it  was  quite  plain  to  us 
they  would  be  lost,  and  as  seven  daN-s  had  already 
passed  we  were  in  serious  trouble  for  fear  we  could 
not  complete  the  trip  in  the  time  allotted  to  us.  We 
surveyed  the  plain  and  mountains  to  learn  its  situation 
and  then  started  ,on  following  our  trail.  As  we  went 
on  we  seemed  to  be  coming  to  lower  ground,  and  near 
our  road  stood  a  tree  of  a  kind  we  had  not  seen  before. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  167 

The  trunk  was  about  six'or  eight  inches  through  and  six 
or  eight  feet  high  with  arms  at  the  top  quite  as  large 
as  the  body,  and  at  the  end  of  the  arms  a  bunch  of 
long,     stiff  bayonet    shaped  leaves. 

It  was  a  brave  little  tree  to  live  in  such  a  barren 
country.  As  we  walked  on  these  trees  were  more 
plenty  and  some  were  much  larger  than  the  first.  As 
we  came  to  the  lowest  part  of  the  valley  there  seemed 
to  be  little  faint  water  ways  running  around  little 
clouds  of  stunted  shrubs,  but  there  was  no  signs  that 
very  much  water  ever  run  in  them.  We  thought  that 
these  were  the  outlet  of  the  big  sandy  lake  which 
might  get  full  of  water  and  overflow  through  these 
channels  after  some  great  storm. 

As  this  low  ground  was  quite  wide  we  lost  our  trail 
in  crossing  it,  and  we  separated  as  we  went  along, 
looking  to  find  it  again,  till  nearly  dark  when  we 
looked  for  a  camping  place.  Fortunately  we  found  a 
little  pond  of  rain  water,  and  some  of  our  strange  trees 
that  were  dead  gave  us  good  materiar  for  a  *ire,  .so 
that  we  were  very  comfortable  indeed,  having  both 
drink  and  fire. 

Starting  on  again  our  course  was  now  ascending 
slightly,  and  we  came  across  more  and  more  of  the 
trees,  and  larger  ones  than  at  first.  W'e  saw  some 
that  seemed  to  have  broken  down  with  their  own 
weight.  The  bayonet  shaped  leaves  .seemed  to  fall  off 
when  old  and  the  stalk  looked  so  much  like  an  old 
overgrown  cabbage  stump  that  we  name  them  "Cab- 
bage trees, ' '  but  afterward  learned  they  were  a  .spec- 
ies of  Yucca.  We  were  much  worned  at  loosing  our 
trail  and  felt  that|it  would  be  quite  unsafe  to  try  to  cross 
the  mountain  without  finding  it  again,  so  we 
separated,  Rogers  going  northwest,  and  I  southwe.st, 
agreeing  to  .swing  round  so  as  to  meet  again  about 
noon,  but  when  we    met,     neither  of    us  had  found  a 


1 68  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

trail,  and  we  were  still  about  lo  miles  from  the  foot- 
hills. Rogers  said  he  had  heard  some  of  the  people 
say  that  the  trail  leading  from  Salt  Lake  to  Los 
Angeles  crossed  such  a  mountain  in  a  low  pass,  with 
very  high  mountains  on  each  side,  and  he  supposed 
that  the  high  mountain  to  the  south  must  be  the  one 
where  the  trail  crossed,  but  as  this  would  take  us 
full}'  fifty  miles  south  of  our  course  as  we  supposed  it 
was  we  hesitated  about  going  there,  and  concluded 
we  would  try  the  lowest  place  in  the  mountain  first, 
and  if  we  failed  we  could  then  go  and  try  Roger's 
route,   more  to    the  south. 

So  we  pushed  on,  still  keeping  a  distance  apart  to 
look  out  for  the  trail,  and  before  night,  in  the  rolling 
hills,  we  saw  here  and  there  faint  traces  of  it,  which 
grew  plainer  as  we  went  along,  and  about  sundown 
we  reached  some  water  holes  and  from  some  old 
skulls  of  oxen  lying  around  the  ground  showing  that 
it  had  at  some  previous  time  been  a  camping  ground. 
We  found  some  good  large  sage  brush  which  made 
a  pretty  good  fire,  and  if  we  could  have  had  a  little 
fresh  meat  to  roast  we  thought  w^e  were  in  a  good 
position  for  supper.  But  that  poor  meat  was  pretty 
dry  food.  However  it  kept  us  alive,  and  we  curled 
up  together  and  slept,  for  the  night  was  cool,  and  we 
had  to  make  the  little  blanket  do  its  best.  We  thought 
we  ought  to  find  a  little  game,  but  we  had  not  seen 
any  to  shoot  since  we  started. 

In  the  morning  the  trail  led  us  toward  the  snow, 
and  as  we  went  along,  a  brave  old  crow  surprised  us 
by  lighting  on  a  bush  near  the  trail,  and  we  surprised 
him  by  killing  him  with  a  charge  of  shot.  "Here's 
your  fresh  meat, ' '  said  Rogers  as  he  put  it  into 
his  knapsack  to  cook  for  supper,  and  marched  on. 
As  we  approached  the  summit  we  could  see,  on  the 
high     mountains    south     of     us,     some    trees,     and 


DEATH  VALLEY.  169 

when  we  came  near  the  highest  part  of  our  road  there 
were  some  juniper  trees  near  it,  which  was  vers^  en- 
couraging. We  crossed  over  several  miles  of  hard 
snow,  but  it  moistened  up  our  moccassins  and  made 
them  soft  and  uncomfortable  After  we  had  turned 
down  the  western  slope  we  killed  a  small  hawk. 
"Here's  your  meat"  said  I,  as  the  poor  thin  fellow 
was  stowed  awa}^  for  future  grub,  to  cook  with  the 
crow. 

When  we  got  out  of  the  snow  we  had  lost  the 
trail  again  but  the  hills  on  the  sides  were  covered  with 
large  brush,  and  on  a  higher  part  of  the  mountain 
south,  were  some  big  trees,  and  we  began  to  think  the 
countr)^  would  change  for  the  better  prett}^  soon. 
We  followed  down  the  ravine  for  many  miles,  and 
when  this  came  out  into  a  larger  one,  we  were 
greatly  pleased  at  the  prospect,  for  down  the  latter 
came  a  beautiful  little  running  brook  of  clear  pure 
water,  singing  as  it  danced  over  the  stones,  a  happj' 
song  and  telling  us  to  drink  and  drink  again,  and  you 
may  be  sure  we  did  drink,  for  it  had  been  months  and 
months  since  we  had  had  such  water,  pure,  sweet,  free 
from  the  terrible  alkali  and  stagnant  taste  that  had 
been  in  almost  every  drop  we  had  seen.  Rogers 
leveled  his  shot  gun  at  some  birds  and  killed  a  beauti- 
ful one  with  a  top  knot  on  his  head,  and  colors  bright  all 
down  his  neck.  It  was  a  California  quail.  We  said 
birds  always  lived  where  human  beings  did,  and  we 
had  great  hopes  born  to  us  of  a  better  land.  I  told 
John  that  if  the  folks  were  only  there  now  I  could 
kill  game  enough  for  them. 

We  dressed  our  three  birds  and  got  them  boiling  in 
the  camp  kettle,  and  while  they  were  cooking  talked 
over  the  outlook  which  was  so  flattering  that  our 
tongues  got  loose  and  we  rattled  away  in  strange  con- 
trast to  the  ominous    silence  of    a   week  ago.     While 


I70  DEATH  VALLEY. 

eating  our  stew  of  crow  and  hawk,  we  could  see  willows 
alders  and  big  sage  brush  around  and  we  had  noticed 
what  seemed  to  be  cotton  woods  farther  dowi  the 
canon,  and  green  trees  on  the  slope  of  the  mountain. 
We  were  sure  we  were  on  the  edge  of  the  promised 
land  and  were  quite  light  hearted,  till  we  began  to  tell 
of  plans  to  get  the  good  people  out  who  were  waiting 
for  us  beside  the  little  spring  in  the  desert.  We  talked 
of  going  back  at  once,  but  our  meat  was  too  near 
gone,  and  we  must  take  them  something  to  encourage 
1"  Jem  a  little  and  make  them  strong  for  the  fearful 
trip.  As  to  these  birds — the  quail  was  as  superb  a 
morsel  as  ever  a  man  did  eat;  the  hawk  w^as  pretty 
fair  and  quite  good  eating;  but  that  abominable 
crow!  His  flesh  was  about  as  black  as  his  feathers 
and  full  of  tough  and  bony  sinews.  We  concluded 
we  did  not  want  any  more  of  that  kind  of  bird,  and 
ever  since  that  da3%  when  I  have  heard  people  talk  of 
"eating  crow"  as  a  bitter  pill,  I  think  I  know  all 
about  it  from  experience. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  other  way  for  us  but  to  push 
on  in  the  morning  and  try  to  obtain  some  relief  for 
the  poor  w^omen  and  children  and  then  get  back  to 
them  as  fast  as  ever  we  could,  so  we  shouldered 
our  packs  and  went  on  down  the  canon  as  fast  as  we 
could.  We  came  soon  to'  evergreen  oaks  and  tall 
cottonwoods,  and  the  creek  bottom  widened  out  to 
two  hundred  yards.  There  were  trees  on  the  south 
side  and  the  brush  kept  getting  larger  and  larger. 
There  was  a  trail  down  this  caiion,  but  as  it  passed 
under  fallen  trees  we  knevv  it  could  not  have  been  the 
same  one  we  had  been  following  on  the  other  side  of 
the  summit,  and  when  we  discovered  a  bear  track  in  a 
soft  place  we  knew  verj'  well  it  w^as  not  a  trail  in- 
tended for  human  beings,  and  we  might  be  orderc' 
out  almost  any  moment. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  171 

On  the  high  bold  grassy  point  about  four  hundred 
yards  we  saw  two  horses  that  held  their  heads  aloft 
and  gave  a  snort,  then  galloped  awa)-  out  of  sight. 
About  10  o'clock  I  felt  a  sudden  pain  in  my  left  knee, 
keen  and  sharp,  and  as  we  went  along  it  kept  growing 
worse.  I  had  to  stop  often  to  rest,  and  it  was  quite 
plain  that  if  this  increased  or  continued  I  was  sure 
enough  disabled,  and  would  be  kept  from  helping 
those  whom  we  had  left.  Nerved  with  the  idea  we 
must  get  help  to  them,  and  that  light  soon,  I 
hobbled  along  as  well  as  I  could,  but  soon  had  to  say 
to  Rogers  that  he  had  bettter  go  on  ahead  and  get  help 
and  let  me  come  on  as  best  I  could,  for  everj- 
moment  of  delay  was  a  danger  of  death  to  our  party 
who  trusted  us  to  get  them  help.  Rogers  refused  to 
do  this,  he  said  he  would  stay  with  me  and  see  me  out, 
and  that  he  could  not  do  much  alone,  and  had  better 
wait  till  I  got  better.  So  we  worked  along  through 
the  tangled  brush,  being  many  times  compelled  to 
wade  the  stream  to  get  along,  and  this  made  our 
mocassins  soft  and  very  uncomfortable  to  wear.  I 
endured  the  pain  all  day,  and  we  must  have  advanced 
quite  a  little  distance  in  spite  of  my  lameness,  but  I 
was  glad  when  night  came  and  we  camped  in  the 
dark  brushy  canon,  having  a  big  fire  which  made  me 
quite  comfortable  all  night,  though  it  was  quite  cold, 
and  we  had  to  keep  close  together  so  as  to  use  the 
blanket.  I  felt  a  little  better  in  the  morning  and 
after  eating  some  of  our  poor  dried  meat,  which  was 
about  as  poor  as  crow,  and  I  don't  know  but  a  little 
worse,  we  continued  on  our  way. 

The  tangle  got  worse  and  worse  as  we  descended, 
and  at  times  we  walked  in  the  bed  of  the  stream  iu 
order  to  make  more  headway,  but  my  lameness  in- 
creased and  we  had  to  go  very  slow  indeed.  About 
enoon  we  came  to  what  looked  like  an  excavation,  a  hoi 


172  DEATH  VALLEY. 

four  feet  square  or  more  it  looked  to  be,  and  on  the 
dirt  thrown  out  some  Cottonwood  trees  had  grown, 
and  one  of  the  largest  of  these  had  been  cut  down 
sometime  before.  This  was  the  first  sign  of  white 
men  we  had  seen  and  it  was  evidently  an  attempt  at 
mining,  no  one  knows|  how  long  ago.  It  encouraged 
us  at  any  rcte,  and  we  pushed  on  through  brush 
and  briers,  tangles  of  wild  rose  bushes  and  bushes  of 
every  sort,  till  all  of  a  sudden  we  came  out  into  an 
open  sandy  valley,  w^ell  covered  with  sage  brush  and 
perhaps  a  hundred  yards  wide;  probably  more. 

The  hills  on  the  south  side  had  on  them  some  oak 
trees  and  grassy  spots,  but  the  north  side  was  thickly 
covered  with  brush.  Our  beautiful  little  brook  that 
had  kept  us  company  soon  sank  into  the  dry  sand  out 
of  sight,  and  we  moved  rather  slowlj-  along  every 
little  while  we  spoke  of  the  chances  of  wagons  ever 
getting  through  the  road  we  had  come,  and  the  hope 
that  my  lameness  might  not  continue  to  retard  our 
progress  in  getting  back  to  the  place  of  our  starting, 
that  the  poor  waiting  people  might  begin  to  get  out  of 
the  terrible  country  they  were  in  and  enjoy  as  we  had 
done,  the  beautiful  running  stream  of  this  side  of  the 
mountain.  If  I  did  not  get  better  the  chances  were 
that  they  would  perish,  for  they  never  could  come 
through  alone,  as  the  distance  had  proved  much 
greater  than  w^ehad  anticipated,  and  long  drj-  stretches 
of  the  desert  were  more  than  they  would  be  prepared 
for.  As  it  was  we  feared  greatly  that  we  had  con- 
sumed so  much  time  they  would  get  impatient  and 
start  out  and  be  lost. 

I  continued  to  hobble  along  down  the  barren  valley 
as  well  as  I  could  and  here  and  there  some  tracks  of 
animals  were  discovered,  but  we  could  not  make  out 
whether  they  were  those  of  domestic  cattle  or  elk. 
Soon,  on  the  side  of    a    hill,    rather   high    up  a  pack 


DEATH  VALLEY.  173 

of  prarie  wolves  were  snarling  around  the  carcess 
of  some  dead  animal,  and  this  was  regarded  as  another 
sign  that  more  and  better  meat  could  be  found,  for  these 
animals  only  live  where  some  sort  of  game  can  be 
found,  and  the}'  knew  better  than  we  that  it  was  not 
for  their  health  to  go  into  the   barren  desert. 

Before  us  now  was  a  spur  from  the  hills  that  reached 
nearly  across  our  little  valley  and  shut  out  further 
sight  in  that  direction  and  when  we  came  to  it  we 
climbed  up  over  it  to  shorten  the  distance.  When  the 
summit  was  reached  a  most  pleasing  sight  filled  our 
sick  hearts  with  a  most  iudiscribable  joy.  I  shall 
never  have  the  abilitj-  to  adequately  describe  the 
beauty  of  the  scene  as  it  appeared  to  us,  and  so  long 
as  I  live  that  landscape  will  be  impressed  upon  the 
canvas  of  my  memory  as  the  most  cheering  in  the 
world.  There  before  us  was  a  beautiful  meadow  of  a 
thousand  acres,  green  as  a  thick  carpet  of  grass  could 
make  it,  and  shaded  with  oaks,  wide  branching  and 
symmetrical,  equal  to  those  of  an  old  English  park» 
while  all  over  the  low  mountains  that  bordered  it  on 
the  south  and  over  the  broad  acres  of  luxuriant  grass 
was  a  herd  of  cattle  numbering  many  hundreds  if  not 
thousands.  They  were  of  all  colors  shades  and  sizes. 
Some  were  calmly  lying  down  in  happy  rumination, 
others  rapidly  cropping  the  sweet  grass,  while  the  gay 
calves  worked  off  their  superfluous  life  and  spirit  in 
vigorous  exercise  or  drew  rich  nourishment  in  the 
abundant  mother's  milk.  All  seemed  happy  and 
content,  and  such  a  scene  of  abundance  and  rich 
plenty  and  comfort  bursting  thus  upon  our  eyes  which 
for  months  had  seen  only  the  desolation  and  sadness 
of  the  desert,  was  like  getting  a  glimpse  of  Paradise, 
and  tears  of  joy  ran  down  our  faces.  If  ever  a  poor 
mortal  escapes  from  this  world  where  so  many  trials 
come,  and  joys  of  a  happy  Heaven  are   opened  up    to 


174  DEATH  VALLEY. 

him,  the  change  cannot  be  much  more  that  this  which 
was  suddenly  opened  to  us  on  that  bright  da}'  which 
was  either  one  of  the  very  last  of  December  1849  or 
the  first  of  January  1850,  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  was 
the  very  day  of  the  new  year,  but  in  our  troubles,  the 
accuracy  of  the  calendar  was  among  the  least  ot  our 
troubles.  If  it  was,  as  1  believe  the  beginning  of  the 
year,  it  was  certainly  a  most  auspicious  one  and  one 
of  the  most  hopeful    of  my  life. 

And  uoz<.'  if  the  otlwrs  zcere  only  here,  was  the 
burden  of  our  thought,  and  a  serious  awakening  from 
the  dream  of  beauty  and  rich  plenty  spread  out  before 
us.  This  ring-streaked  and  speckled  herd  might  be 
descended  directl}-  from  Jacob's  famous  herd,  blessed 
of  the  Lord,  and  while  we  could  not  keep  our  thoughts 
from  some  sad  doubts  as  to  the  fate  of  those  whom  we 
had  left  behind,  we  tried  to  be  generally  hopeful  and 
courageous  and  brightened  up  our  steps  to  prepare 
for  a  relief  and  return  to  the  hot  dr}'  plain  beyond  the 
mountains  where  they  were  awaiting  us,  no  doubt 
with  much  tribulation. 

I  now  thought  of  myself  and  my  failing  knee  and 
we  sat  down  under  the  shade  of  an  oak  to  rest,  and 
after  a  little,  better  feeling  seemed  to  come.  Down 
by  a  deep  gully  cut  by  the  rains  a  yearling  steer  was 
feeding,  and  I  took  the  rifle  and  crawled  down  near 
him  and  put  first  one  ball  through  him,  and  then 
another,  before  he  fell  dead  on  the  other 
side  of  the  wash,  when  we  sprang  with  all  the  agilit)- 
of  a  deer.  We  quickly  got  some  good  meat  and  had 
it  roasted  and  eaten  almost  quicker  than  can  be  told. 
We  hardl}-  realized  how  near  starv^ed  we  were  till  we 
had  plenty  before  us  again.  We  ate  till  we  were 
satisfied  for  once,  and  for  the  first  time  in  many  long 
dreary  weeks.  We  kindled  a  fire  and  commenced 
drying  the  meat,  one  sleeping  while  the  other  kept  the 


DEATH  VALLF.Y  175 

fire,  and  changing  off  every  few  hours.  What  a  rest 
that  was!  One  who  has  never  been  nearly  worn  out 
and  starved,  down  nearly  to  the  point  of  death  can 
never  know  what  it  is  to  rest  in  comfort.  No  one 
can  tell.  It  was  like  a  dream,  a  sweet,  restful  dream 
where  troubles  would  drown  themselves  in  sleep. 
How  we  felt  the  strength  come  back  to  us  with  that 
food  and  the  long  draughts  of  pure  clear  water. 

The  miserable  dried  meat  in  our  knapsacks 
was  put  away  and  this  splendid  jerked  beef  put  in 
its  place.  The  wolves  came  to  our  camp  and  howled 
in  dreadful  disappointment  at  not  getting  a  meal. 
Rogers  wanted  me  to  shoot  the  miserable 
howlers,  but  I  let  them  have  their  concert  out,  and 
thought  going  without  their  breakfast  must  be  punish- 
ment enough  for  them.  As  our  mocassins  were  worn 
out  we  carefully  prepared  some  sinews  from  the  steer 
and  made  new  foot  gear  from  the  green  hide  which 
placed  us  in  shape  for  two  or    three    wreck's  walking. 

The  morning  was  clear  and  pleasant.  We  had  our 
knapsacks  filled  with  good  food  we  had  prepared,  and 
were  enjoying  the  cool  breeze  which  came  up  the 
valley,  when  we  heard  faintly  the  bark  of  a  dog,  or 
at  least  we  thought  we  did.  If  this  were  true  there 
must  be  some  one  living  not  very  far  away  and  we  felt 
better.  I  was  still  very  lame  and  as  we  started  along 
the  walking  seemed  to  make  it  worse  again,  so  that  it 
was  all  I  could  do  to  follow  John  on  the  trail  down 
the  valley.  As  we  went  along  a  man  and  woman 
passed  us  some  distance  on  the  left,  and  they  did  not 
seem  to  notice  us,  though  we  were  in  plain  sight. 
They  were  curiously  dressed.  The  woman  had  no  hoops 
nor  shoes,  and  a  shawl  wound  about  her  neck  and  one 
end  thrown  over  her  head,  was  a  sub'^titute  bonnet. 
The  man  had  sandals  on  his  feet,  wi..i  whi.e  cotton 
pants,  a    calico    shirt,  and    a  wide  .i mined,  comical, 


176  DEATH  VALLEY. 

snufF-colored  hat.  We  at  once  put  them  down  as 
Spaniards,  or  then  descendants  of  Mexico,  and  if 
what  we  had  read  about  them  in  books  was  true,  we 
were  in  a  set  of  land  pirates,  and  bloDd  thirsts-  men 
whom  we  might  have  occasion  to  be  aware  of.  We 
had  never  heard  a  word  of  Spanish  spoken,  except 
perhaps  a  word  or  two  upon  the  plains  which  some 
fellow  knew,  and  how  we  could  make  ourselves  known 
and  explain  who  we  were  was  a    puzzle  to    us. 

Diflficulties  began  to  arise  in  our  minds  now  we 
were  in  an  apparent  land  of  plenty,  but  in  spite  of  all  we 
went  along  as  fast  as  my  lame  knee  would  permit  me 
to  do.  A  house  on  higher  ground  soon  appeared 
in  sight.  It  was  low,  of  one  story  with  a  flat  roof, 
gray  in  color,  and  of  a  different  style  of  architecture 
from  any  we  had  ever  seen  before.  There  was  no 
fence  around  it,  and  no  animals  or  wagons  in  sight, 
nor  person  to  be  seen.  As  we  walked  up  the  hill 
toward  it  I  told  John  our  mocassins  made  of  green 
hide  would  betray  us  as  having  recently  killed  an 
animal,  and  as  these  people  might  be  the  owners  and 
detain  us  by  having  us  arrested  for  the  crime,  and 
this  would  be  especially  bad  for  us  just  now.  We 
determined  to  face  the  people,  and  let  the  fact  of  our 
close  necessities  be  a  sufficient  excuse  for  us,  if  we 
could  make  them  understand    oui  circumstances. 

As  we  came  near  the  house  no  person  was  seen,  but 
a  mule  tied  to  a  post  told  us  there  was  some  one  about, 
and  a  man  soon  made  an  appearance,  dressed  about 
same  style  as  the  one  we  had  passed  a  short  time 
oefore.  As  we  came  near  we  saluted  him,  bidding 
him  good  morning,  and  he  in  turn  touched  his  hat 
politely,  saying  S3:nething  in  reply  which  we  were 
not  able  to  understand.  I  showed  him  that  I  was 
lame,  and  taking  out  some  money  pointed  to  the 
mule,  but  he  only  shook  his  head  and  said  something 


DEATH  VALLEY,  177 

I  could  not  comprehend.  Rogers  now  began  looking 
around  the  house,  which  was  built  of  sun-dried  bricks 
about  one  by  two  feet  in  size,  and  one  end  was  used 
as  a  storehouse.  As  he  looked  in,  a  man  came  to  him 
and  wanted  a  black,  patent  leather  belt  which  Rogers 
wore,  having  a  watch-pocket  attached  to  it.  He 
offered  a  quart  or  more  of  coarse  corn  meal,  and 
Rogers  made  the  trade. 

We  tried  to  inquire  where  we  were  or  where  ought 
to  go,  but  could  get  no  satisfactorj'  answer  from  the 
man,  although  when  we  spoke  San  Francisco  he 
pointed  to  the  north.  This  was  not  vtry  satisfactory 
to  us  and  we  seemed  as  badh'  lost  as  ever,  and  where 
or  which  way  to  go  we  did  not  seem  very  successful  in 
finding  out.  So  we  concluded  to  go  on  a  little  way 
at  least,  and  I  hobbled  off  in  the  direction  he  pointed, 
which  was  down  the  hill  and  past  a  small,  poorly 
fenced  field  which  was  sometimes  cultivated,  and 
across  the  stream  which  followed  down  the  valle}-. 
Passing  on  a  mile  or  two  we  stopped  on  a  big  patch 
of  .sand  to  rest. 

I  told  Rogers  I  did  not  think  thiscour.se  would  lead 
us  to  any  place  in  a  month,  and  just  now  a  delay  was 
ruinous  to  us  and  to  those  who  were  waiting  for  us, 
and  it  would  not  do  for  us  to  go  off  to  the  north  to 
find  a  settlement.  While  I  was  expressing  my 
opinion  on  matters  and  things,  Rogers  had  wet  up  a 
part  of  his  meal  with  water  and  put  it  to  bake  on  the 
cover  of  his  camp  kettle.  There  was  a  fair  sized  cake 
for  each  of  us,  and  it  was  the  first  bread  of  any  kind 
we  had  eaten  for  months,  being  a  very  acceptable 
change  from  an  exclusively  meat  diet.  Looking  up 
the  valley  we  could  see  a  cloud  of  dust,  thick  and  high, 
and  soon  several  men  on  horseback  who  came  at  a 
rushing  gallop.  I  told  Rogers  they  were  after  us. 
and     believed     them     to     be  a   murderous  set    who 


178  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

might  make  trouble  for  tis.  I  hastily  buried  our 
little  store  of  money  in  the  sand,  telling  him  that  if 
they  got  us,  they  would  not  get  our  money.  Putting 
our  guns  across  our  laps  in  an  easy  position  we  had 
them  cocked  and  ready  for  business,  and  our  knives 
where  we  could  get  ihem  handy,  and  awaited  their 
arrival. 

They  came  on  with  a  rush  until  within  a  short 
distance  and  halted  for  consultation  just  across  the 
creek,  after  which  one  of  them  advanced  toward  us 
and  as  he  came  near  us  we  could  see  he  was  a  white 
man,  who  wished  us  good  evening  in  our  own  language. 
We  answered  him  rather  cooly,  still  sitting  in  the 
sand  and  he  no  doubt  saw  that  we  were  a  little 
suspicious  of  the  crowd.  He  asked  us  where  we  were 
from,  and  we  told  him  our  circumstances  and  con- 
dition and  that  we  would  like  to  secure  some  means 
of  relief  for  the  people  we  had  left  in  the  desert,  but 
our  means  were  very  limited  and  we  wanted  to  do  the 
best  we  could.  He  said  we  were  about  500  miles 
from  Sau  Francisco,  not  far  from  100  miles  from  the 
coast  and  thirty  miles  from  Los  Angeles.  We  were 
much  afraid  we  would  not  be  able  to  get  anything 
here,  but  he  told  us  to  go  across  the  valley  to  a  large 
live  oak  tree  which  he  pointed  out,  and  said  we  would 
find  an  American  there,  and  we  should  wait  there  till 
morning.  He  said  he  would  go  back  and  stay  at  the 
house  we  had  passed,  and  would  do  what  he  could  to 
assist  us  to  go  to  Los  Angeles  where  we  could  get 
some  supplies.  Then  he  rode  away,  and  as  we  talked 
it  over  we  saw  no  way  but  to  follow  the  directions  of 
our  newfound  friend. 

It  seemed  now  that  my  lameness  had  indeed  been  a 
blessing.  If  I  had  been  able  to  walk  we  would  now 
have  been  well  on  toward  the  seashore,  where  we 
could  ha'i'e  found  no  such  friend  as  this   who  had  ap- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  179 

peared  to  us.  The  way  seemed  clearer  to  us,  but 
the  time  for  our  return  was  almost  up  and  there  was 
no  way  of  getting  back  in  fifteen  days  as  we  had  agreed 
upon,  so  there  was  great  danger  to  our  people  yet. 
It  seemed  very  likely  to  take  us  twenty  four  or  thirty 
days  at  best,  and  while  they  probably  had  oxen  enough 
to  provide  them  food  for  so  long  a  time  they  might 
take  a  notion  to  move  on,  which  would  be  fatal. 

At  the  big  live  oak  tree  we  found  an  American 
camper,  who  was  on  his  way  to  the  gold  mines.  He  was 
going  a  new  route  and  said  the  mines  could  be 
reached  much  quicker  than  by  going  up  the  coast 
-  by  way  of  San  Francisco.  A  new  company  with 
wagons  was  soon  to  start  out  to  break  the  road,  and 
when  they  crossed  the  east  end  of  the  valley  he  would 
follow  them.  I  think  this  man's  name  was  Springer. 
He  had  come  by  way  of  the  Santa  Fe  route,  and  the 
people  of  Los  Angeles  had  told  him  this  route  was 
an  easy  one  being  often  traveled  by  saddle 
horses,  and  if  the  company  could  make  it  possible  for 
wagons  they  could  have  all  the  cattle  they  wanted  to 
kill  along  the  road  as  their  pay  for  doing  the  work. 
Our  new  friend  lay  down  early,  nnd  as  he  saw  we 
were  scant  in  blankets  he  brought  some  to  us  for  our 
use,  which  were  most  thankfully  received. 

As  soon  as  we  were  alone  Rogers  mixed  up  some 
more  of  the  meal  which  we  baked  in  our  friend's  fry- 
ing pan,  and  we  baked  and  ate  and  baked  and  ate 
again,  for  our  appetites  were  ravenous,  and  the  de- 
mand of  our  stomachs  got  the  better  of  the  judgment 
of  our  brains. 

It  was  hard  to  find  time  to  sleep,  we  were  .so  full  of 
the  plans  about  the  way,  which  we  must  manage  to  get 
relief  for  the  people.  We  had  many  doubts  if  animals 
could  ever  come  over  the  route  we  had  come  over, 
from  deliberation  we  decided  that  bv  selecting  a  route 


i8o  DEATH  VALLEY. 

with  that  idea  in  our  minds,  we  could  get  mules  and 
perhaps  horses  over  the  country.  We  perhaps  could 
go  more  to  the  north  and  take  the  Jayhawkers  trail, 
but  this  would  take  us  fully  a  hundred  miles  farther 
and  four  or  fiv^e  days  longer,  at  the  best,  ard  erery 
moment  of  delay  was  to  be  carefully  avoided  as  a 
moment  of  danger  to  our  friends. 

Thus  again,  our  sleep  was  troubled  from  another 
cause.  Being  so  long  unaccustomed  to  vegetable  food, 
and  helped  on,  no  doubt,  by  our  poor  judgment  in 
guaging  the  quantity  of  our  food,  we  were  attacked 
by  severe  pains  in  the  stomach  and  bowels,  from  which 
we  suffered  intensely.  We  arose  very  early  and  with 
a  very  light  breakfast,  for  the  sickness  admonished  us, 
we  started  back  for  the  house  we  had  first  passed,  at 
which  our  friend  on  horseback,  said  he  would  spend 
the  night  and  where  we  were  to  meet  him  this  morning. 
He  said  he  could  talk  Spanish  all  right  and  would  do 
all  he  could  to  help  us. 

Our  suffering  and  trouble  caused  us  to  move  very 
slowly,  so  that  it  was  nine  or  ten  o'clock  before  we 
reached  the  house,  and  we  found  they  had  two  horses 
all  read}'  for  us  to  go  to  Los  Angeles.  There  were 
no  saddles  for  us,  but  we  thought  this  would  be  a  good 
way  to  cure  my  lameness.  The  people  seemed  to  be 
friends  to  us  in  every  way.  We  mounted,  having 
our  packs  on  our  backs,  and  our  guns  before  us,  and 
with  a  friendly  parting  to  the  people  who  did  not  go, 
all  four  of  us  started  on  a  trip  of  thirty  miles  to  the 
town  of  Los  Angeles. 

When  we  reached  the  foot  ofthemountain  which  was 
ver}^  steep  but  not  rocky,  John  and  I  dismounted  and 
led  our  animals  to  the  top,  where  we  could  see  a  long 
way  west,  and  south,  and  it  looked  supremely  beauti- 
ful. We  could  not  help  comparing  it  to  the  long  wide, 
desert  we  had  crossed,  and  John  and  myself  said  many 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  i8i 

times  how  we  wished  the  folks  were  here  to  enjoy  the 
pleasant  sight,  the  beautiful  fertile  picture. 

There  appeared  to  be  one  quite  large  house  in 
sight,  and  not  far  ofif,  which  the  man  told  us  was  the 
Mission  of  San  Fernando,  a  Roman  Catholic  Church 
and  residence  for  priests  and  followers.  The  down- 
ward slope  of  the  mountain  was  as  steep  as  the  other 
side  and  larger,  and  John  and  I  did  not  attempt  to 
mount  till  we  were  well  down  on  the  level  ground 
again,  but  the  other  two  men  rode  up  and  down  with- 
.  out  au}^  trouble.  We  would  let  our  leaders  get  half 
a  mile  or  so  ahead  of  us  and  then  mo  ant  and  put 
our  horses  to  a  gallop  till  we  overtook  them  again. 
We  had  walked  so  long  that  riding  was  very  tiresome 
to  us,  and  for  comfort  alone  we  would  have  preferred 
the  way  on  foot,  but  we  could  get  along  a  little  faster, 
and  the  frequent  dismounting  kept  us  from  becoming 
too  lame  from  riding. 

We  passed  the  Mission  about  noon  or  a  little  after, 
and  a  few  miles  beyond  met  a  man  on  horseback  who 
lived  up  to  the  north  about  a  hundred  miles.  His 
name  was  French  and  he  had  a  cattle  range  at  a  place 
called  Tej on  (Tahone).  Our  friends  told  him  who 
we  were,  and  what  assistance  we  needed.  Mr.  French 
said  he  was  well  acquainted  in  Los  Angeles  and  had  been 
there  some  time,  and  that  all  the  travelers  who  would 
take  the  Coast  route  had  gone,  those  who  had  come 
by  way  of  Salt  Lake  had  got  in  from  two  to  four  weeks 
before,  and  a  small  train  which  had  come  the  Santa  Fe 
Route  was  still  upon  the  road.  He  said  Los  Angeles 
was  so  clear  of  emigrants  that  he  did  not  think  we 
could  get  any  help  there  at  the  present  time. 

'Now, "  said  Mr.  French — "You  boys  can't  talk 
Spanish  and  it  is  not  very  likely  you  will  be  able  to 
get  any  help.  Now  I  say,  you  boys  turn  back  and 
go  with  me  and  I  will  give  you  the  best  I  have,  I  wilj 


i82  DEATH  VALLEY. 

let  you   have    a  yoke  of  gentle   oxen,  or  more  if  you 
need  them,  and  plenty  of  beans,  which  are  good    food 
for  I  live  on  them ;  besides  this  I  can    give   an  Indian 
guide    to    help    yon    back.     Will    that  do?     After  a 
moment  we  said  we  doubted  if  oxen  could  be  got  over 
the  road,  and  if  they  were  fat  now    they    would    soon 
get  poor,  and  perhaps  not  stand  it  as  well  as  the  oxen 
which  had  became  vr^^  to  that  kind    of  life,    and    of 
those  they  had  in  canip  all  they  needed.      We  wanted 
to  get  something  for  the  women  and  children  to  ride, 
for  we  knew  they    must   abandon   the    wagons,    aiid 
could  not  walk  so    far  over    that  dry,   rough  country. 
"Well,  "  said  Mr.  French: — "I  will  stop  at   the    place 
you  were  this  morning — I  know  them  well —  and  they 
are  good  folks,  and  I  am  sure  when  I  tell  them  what 
you  want    they    will    help    you  if  they  possibly  can. 
This  looks  to  me  to    be    the    most  sensible   course. ' ' 
After  talking  an  hour  our  two  companions  advised   us 
that  the  proposition  of    Mr.  French    seemed  the  most 
reasonable  one  that  appeared.      But  for  us  to   go  clear 
back  to  his  range  would  take    up    so   much  valuable 
time  that  we  were  almost    afraid  of    the  delay  which 
might  mean  the  destruction    of    our  friends.      French 
said  he  had  a  pack  saddle,  with  him  taking  it   home, 
and  we  could  put  it  on  one  of    our    horses,  and  when 
we  came  back  to  Los  Angeles  could  leave  it  at  a  certain 
saloon  or  place  he  named  and  tell  them  it  belonged  to 
him  and  to  keep  it    for    him.     I    have  forgotten  the 
name  of  the  man  who  kept  the  saloon.     We  agreed  to 
this,  and  bidding  our   two   campanions  farewell,    we 
turned  back  again  with  Mr.    French. 

When  night  came  we  were  again  at  the  Mission  we 
had  pa.s.sed  on  the  way  down.  We  were  kindly  treated 
here,  for  I  believe  Mr.  French  told  them  about  us. 
They  sent  an  Indian  to  take  our  horses,  and  we  sat 
down  beside  the  great  house.  There  were  many  smaller 


DEATH  VALLEY.  183 

houses,  and  quite  a  large  piece  of  ground  fenced  in  by 
an  adobe  wall.  The  roof  of  the  buildings  was  like 
that  of  our  own  buildings  in  having  eaves  on  both, 
sides,  but  the  covering  was  of  semi  circular  tiles  made 
and  burned  like  brick.  Rows  of  these  were  placed 
close  together,  the  hollow  sides  up,  and  then  another 
course  over  the  joints,  placed  with  the  round  side  up, 
which  made  a  roof  that  was  perfectly  waterproof,  but 
must  have  been  very  heavy.  These  tiles  were  about 
two  feet  long.  All  the  surroundings,  and  general 
make  up  of  the  place  were  new  to  us  and  very 
wonderful.  They  gave  us  good  dried  meat  to  eat  and 
let  us  sleep  in  the  big  house  on  the  floor,  which  was 
as  hard  as  granite,  and  we  turned  over  a  great  msmy 
times  before  daylight,  and  were  glad  when  morning 
came.  We  offered  to  pay  them,  but  they  would  take 
nothing  from  us,  and  we  left  leading  our  horses  over 
the  steep  mountain,  and  reaching  the  house  again 
late  in  the  day.  They  turned  our  horses  loose  and 
seemed  disposed  to  be  very  friendly  and  disposed  to  do 
for  us  what  they  could. 

We  were  very  tired  and  sat  down  by  the  side  of  the 
house  and  rested,  wondering  how  we  would  come  out 
with  our  preparations,  They  were  talking  together, 
but  we  could  not  understand  a  word.  A  dark  woman 
came  out  and  gave  each  of  us  a  piece  of  cooked  squash. 
It  seemed  to  have  been  roasted  in  the  ashes  and  was 
very  sweet  and  good.  These  were  all  signs  of  friend- 
ship and  we  were  glad  of  the  good  feeling.  We  were 
given  a  place  to  sleep  in  the  house,  in  a  store,  room  on 
a  floor  which  was  not  soft.  This  was  the  second 
house  we  had  slept  in  since  leaving  Wisconsin,  and 
it  seemed  rather  pent-up  to  us. 

In  the  morning  we  were  shown  a  kind  of 
mill  like  a  coffee  mill,  and  by  putting  in  a 
handful  of  wheat  from  a  pile    and    giving  the  mill  a 


1 84  DEATH  YALLEY. 

few  turns  we  were  given  to  understand  we  should 
grind  some  flour  for  ourselves.  We  went  to  work 
with  a  will,  but  found  it,  hard,  slow  work. 

After  a  little,  our  dark  woman  came  and  gave  us 
each  a  pancake  and  a  piece  of  meat,  also  another  piece 
of  roasted  sqash,  for  our  breakfast,  and  this,  we  thought, 
was  the  best  meal  we  had  ever  eaten.  The  lady  tried 
to  talk  to  us  but  we  could  not  understand  the  words, 
and  I  could  convey  ideas  to  her  better  by  the  sign 
language  than  any  other  way.  She  pointed  out  the 
way  from  which  we  came  and  wanted  to  know  how 
many  day's  travel  it  might  be  away,  and  I  answered 
by  putting  mj'  hand  to  my  head  and  closing  my  eyes> 
which  was  repeated  as  many  times  as  there  had  been 
nights  on  our  journey,  at  which  she  was  much  sur- 
prised that  the  folks  were  so  far  away.  She  then 
place  her  hand  upon  her  breast  and  then  held  it  up,  to 
ask  how  many  women  there  were,  and  I  answered  her 
by  holding  up  three  fingers,  at  which  she  shrugged 
her  shoulders  and  shook  her  head.  Then  pointing  to 
a  child  by  her  side,  four  or  five  years  old,  and  in  the 
same  way  asked  how  many  children,  I  answered  by 
holding  up  four  fingers,  and  she  almost  cried,  open- 
ing her  movith  in    great    surprise,     and  turned  away. 

I  said  to  Rogers  that  she  was  a  kind,  well  meaning 
woman,  and  that  Mr.  French  had  no  doubt  told  her 
something  of  our  story.  Aside  from  her  dark  com- 
plexion her  features  reminded  me  of  my  mother,  and 
at  first  sight  of  her  I  thought  of  the  best  woman  on 
earth  my  own  far  ofi"  mother,  who  little  knew  the 
hardships  we  had  endured.  We  went  to  work  again 
at  the  mill  and  after  a  while  the  woman  came  again 
and  tried  to  talk  and  to  teach  us  some  words  of  her 
own  language  She  place  her  finger  on  me  and  said 
ombre  and  I  took  out  my  little  book  and  wrote  down 
ombre  as  meaning  man,  and  in  the  same  way  she  taught 


DEATH  VATXEY.  185 

me  that  jnnjer,  was  woman;  trigo,  wheat;  frijoles, 
beans;  came,  meat;  calasasa,  pumpkin;  caballo,  horse; 
vaca^  cow;  niuchacho,  boy,  and  several  other  words 
in  this  way. 

I  got  hold  of  many  words   thus    to   study,  so  that 
if  I  ever  came  back  I  could  talk  a  little  and  make  my- 
self understood  as  to  some  of  the  common  objects   and 
things  of  necessary  use.     Such    friendly,  human    acts 
shown  to  us  strangers,  were  evidences  of  the  kindest 
A  isposition.        I    sh   11  never  forget    the  kindness  of 
those  original  Californians.      When  in  Walker's  camp 
and  finding  he  was  friendly  to  Mormonism    we  could 
claim  that  we  were  also  Mormons,  but  the  good  people 
though    well  known    Catholics,    did   not   so  much  as 
mention  the  fact  nor  inquire  whether  we  favored  that 
sect  or  not.      We  were  human   beings    in  distress  and 
we    represented   others   who   were  worse   even    than 
we,     and    those  kind    acts  and  great  good  will,  were 
given  freely  because  we  were    fellow    human  beings. 
The  provisions  we  prepared  were,     a    sack  of  small 
yellow  beans;  a    small    sack  of  wheat,  a  quantity   of 
good  dried  meat,     and  some  of  the   coarse,    unbolted 
flour  we  had  made  at  the  mills.     The}^  showed  us  how 
to  properly  pack  the  horse,  which    was  a  kind  of  work 
w  e  had  not  been  use  to,  and  we  were   soon  ready  for 
a  start.     I  took  what  money    we  had  and  put  it  on  a 
block,    making    signs    for    them  to    take     what    the 
things    were   worth.     They   took    .130,    and  we  were 
quite  surprised  to  get   two    horses,   provisions,  pack- 
saddles  and  ropes,  some  of  the  latter  made  of  rawhide 
and    some    of    hair,    so    cheaply,  but  we   afterward 
learned  that  the  mares  furnished  were  not    considered 
of  much    value,     and  we  had  really  paid  a   good  fair 
price  for  everything.     To    make    it   easy    for  us  they 
had  also  fixed  our  knapsacks  on  the  horses. 

The    good    lady    with  the  child,  came  out  with  four 


i86  DEATH  VALLEY. 

oranges  and  pointed  to  her  own  child  and  then  to  the 
East,  put  them  in  the  pack  meaning  we  should  carry 
them  to  the  children.  With  a  hearty  good  bye  from 
them,  and  a  polite  lifting  of  our  hats  to  them  we 
started  on  our  return,  down  toward  the  gentle  decline 
of  the  creek  bottom,  and  then  up  the  valley,  the  way 
we  came.  Toward  night  we  came  to  a  wagon  road 
crossing  the  valley,  and  as  we  well  knew  we  could 
not  go  up  the  tangled  creek  bed  with  horses  we  took 
this  road  to  the  north,  which  took  a  dry  ravine 
for  its  direction,  and  in  which  there  was  a  pack  trail, 
and  this  the  wagons  were  following.  We  kept  on  the 
trail  for  a  few  miles,  and  overtook  them  in  their  camp, 
and  camped  with  them  over  night.  We  told  them 
we  considered  our  outfit  entirely  too  small  for  the 
purpose  intended,  which  was  to  bring  two  women 
and  four  children  out  of  the  desert,  but  that  being  the 
best  we  could  get,  we  were  taking  this  help  to  them 
and  hoped  to  save  their  lives.  Our  mission  became 
well  known  and  one  man  offered  to  sell  us  a  poor  little 
one-eyed  mule,  its  back  all  bare  of  covering  from  the 
eflfect  of  a  great  saddle  sore  that  had  very  recently 
healed.  He  had  picked  it  up  somewhere  in  Arizona 
w'here  it  had  been  turned  out  to  die.  but  it  seemed 
the  beast  had  enough  of  the  good  Santa  Ana  stock  in 
it  to  bring  it  through  and  it  had  no  notion  of  dying 
at  the  present  time,  though  it  was  scarcely  more  than 
a  good  fair  skeleton,  even  then.  The  beast  became 
mine  at  the  price  of  $15,  and  the  people  expressed 
great  sympathy-  with  us  and  the  dear  friends  we 
were  going  to  try  to  save. 

Another  maii  offered  a  little,  snow-white  mare,  as 
fat  as  butter,  for  $15,  which  I  paid,  though  it  took  the 
last  cent  of  money  I  had.  This  little  beauty  of  a 
beast  was  broken  to  lead  at  halter,  but  had  not  been 
broken  in  any  other  way.     Rogers  said  he  would  ride 


DEATH  VAlvIvEY.  187 

her  where  he  could,  and  before  she  got  to  the  wagons 
she  would  be  as  gentle  as  a  lamb.  He  got  a  bridle 
and  tried  her  at  once,  and  then  there  was  a  scene  of 
rearing,  jumping  and  kicking  that  would  have  made 
a  good  Bufalo  Bill  circus  in  these  days.  No  use,  the 
man  could  not  be  thrown  off,  and  the  crowd  cheered 
and  shouted  to  Rogers  to — "Hold  her  level.  " 

After  some  bucking  and  backing  on  the  part  of  the 
mare  and  a  good  deal  of  whipping  and  kicking  on  the 
part  of  the  man,  and  a  good  many  furious  dashes  in 
lively,  but  very  aw'iward  ways,  the  little  beast 
yielded  the  point,  and  carried  her  load  without  further 
trouble. 

The  people  gave  us  a  good  supper  and  breakfast, 
and  one  man  came  and  presented  us  with  25  pounds 
of  unbolted  wheat  flour.  They  were  of  great  assist- 
ance to  us  in  showing  us  how  to  pack  and  sack  our 
load,  which  was  not  heavy  and  could  be  easily  carried 
by  our  two  animals  which  we  had  at  first.  However 
we  arranged  a  pack  on  the  mule  and  this  gave  me  a 
horse  to  ride  and  a  mule  to  lead,  while  Rogers  rode 
his  milk-white  steed  and  led  the  other  horse.  Thus 
we  went  along  and  following  the  trail  soon  reached 
the  summit  from  which  we  could  see  off  to  the  East 
a  wonderful  distance,  probably  200  miles,  of  the  dry 
and  barren  desert  of  hill  and  desolate  valley  over 
which  we  had  come. 

The  trail  bearing  still  to  the  north  from  this  point, 
we  left  and  turned  due  east  across  the  country,  and 
soon  came  to  a  beautiful  lake  of  sweet  fresh  water 
situated  well  up  toward  the  top  of  the  mountain. 
This  lake  is  now  called  Elizabeth  Lake.  Here  we 
watered  our  animals  and  filled  our  canteens,  then 
steered  a  little  south  of  east  among  the  Cabbage  trees, 
aiming  to  strike  the  rain  water  hole  where  we  had 
camped  as  we  came  over.     We  reached  the  water  hole 


1 88  DEATH  Y ALLEY. 

about  tioon  and  here  found  the  Jayhawkers  trail, 
which  we  took.  They  had  evidently  followed  us  and 
passed  down  the  same  brushy  canon  while  we  having 
taken  a  circuitous  route  to  the  north,  had  gone  around 
there.  Getting  water  here  for  ourselves  and  horses, 
we  went  back  to  the  trail  and  pushed  on  as  fast  as  the 
animals  could  walk,  and  as  we  no.v  knew  where  we 
could  get  water,  we  kept  on  till  aftex'  dark,  one  of  us 
walking  to  keep  the  trail,  and  some  time  in  the  night 
reached  the  Willow  corral  I  have  spoken  of  before. 
There  was  good  water  here,  but  the  Jay  hawker's  oxen 
had  eaten  all  the  grass  that  grew  in  the  little  moist 
place  around,  and  our  animals  were  short  of  feed. 
One  of  us  agreed  to  stand  guard  the  fore  part  of  the 
night  and  the  other  later,  so  that  we  might  not  be 
surprised  by  Indians  and  lose  our  animals.  I  took 
the  first  watch  and  let  the  blaze  of  the  fire  go  out  so 
as  not  to  attract  attention  and  as  I  sat  by  the  dull 
coals  and  hot  ashes  I  fell  asleep.  Rogers  happened  to 
wake  and  see  the  situation,  and  arose  and  waked  me 
again  saying  that  we  must  be  more  careful  or  the 
Indians  would  get  our  horses.  You  may  be  stire  I 
kept  awake  the  rest  of  my  watch. 

Next  da}'  we  passed  the  water  holes  at  the  place 
where  we  had  so  stealthily  crawled  up  to  Dot}-  's  camp 
when  coming  out.  These  holes  held  about  two  pails 
of  water  each,  but  no  stream  run  away  from  them. 
Our  horses  seemed  to  want  water  badly  for  when  they 
drank  they  put  their  head  in  up  to  their  eyes  and 
drank  raveuoush'. 

Thirty  miles  from  here  to  the  next  water,  Doty 
had  told  us,  and  night  overtook  us  before  we 
^ould  reach  it,  so  a  dry  camp  was  made.  Our 
horses  began  now  to  walk  with  drooping  heads  and 
slow,  tired  steps,  so  we  divided  the  load  among  them 
all  and  walked  ourselves.     The  water,  when    reached 


DEATH  VAT.LEY.  189 

proved  so  salt  the  horses  would  not  drink  it,  and  as 
Doty  had  told  us  the  most  water  was  over  the  mountain 
ahead  of  us,  we  still  followed  their  trail  which  went 
up  a  very  rocky  cailon  in  which  it  was  hard  work  for 
the  horses  to  travel.  The  horses  were  all  very  gentle 
now  and  needed  some  urging  to  make  them  go. 
Roger's  fat  horse  no  longer  tried  to  unseat  its  rider 
or  its  pack,  but  seemed  to  be  the  most  downhearted 
of  the  train.  The  little  mule  was  the  liveliest,  sharpest 
witted  animal  of  the  whole.  She  had  probably 
traveled  on  the  desert  before  and  knew  better  how  to 
get  along.  She  had  learned  to  crop  eveiy  spear  of 
grass  she  came  to,  and  every  bit  of  sage  brush  that 
offered  a  green  leaf  was  given  a  nip.  She  would  some- 
times leave  the  trail  and  go  out  to  one  side  to  get  a 
little  bunch  of  dry  grass,  and  comeback  and  take  her 
place  again  as  if  she  knew  her  duty.  The  other 
animals  never  tried  to  do  this.  The  mule  was  evi- 
dently better  versed  in  the  art  of  getting  a  living  than 
the  horses. 

Above  the  rough  bed  of  the  caiion  the  bottom  was 
gravelly  and  narrow,  and  the  walls  on  each  side  nearly 
perpendicular.  Our  horses  now  poked  slowly  along' 
and  as  we  passed  the  steep  wall  of  the  caiion  the 
white  animal  left  the  trail  and  walked  with  full  force, 
head  first,  against  the  solid  rock.  She  seemed  to  be 
blind,  and  though  we  went  quickly  to  her  and  took 
ofi"  the  load  she  carried,  she  had  stopped  breathing  by 
the  time  we  had  it  done.  Not  knowing  how  far  it 
was  to  water,  nor  how  soon  some  of  our  other  horses 
might  fall,  we  did  not  tarry,  but  pushed  on  as  well 
as  we  could,  finding  no  water.  We  reached  the 
summit  and  turned  down  a  ravine,  following  the  trail, 
and  about  dark  came  to  the  water  they  had  told  us 
about,  a  faint  running  stream  which  came  out  of  a 
rocky  ravine  and  sank  almost  immediately    in  the  dry 


190  DEATH  VALLEY. 

sand.  There  was  water  enough  for  us,  but  no  grass. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  horses  were  not  strong  enough  to 
carr}-  a  load,  and  as  we  wanted  to  get  them  through 
if  possible,  we  concluded  to  bury  the  wheat  and  get  i 
on  our  return.  We  dug  a  hole  and  lined  it  with  fine 
sticks,  then  put  in  the  little  bag  and  covered  it  with 
dry  brush,  and  sand  making  the  surface  as  smooth  as 
if  it  had  never  been  touched,  then  made  our  bed  on  it. 
The  whole  work  was  done  after  dark  so  the  deposit 
■could  not  be  seen  by  the  red  men  and  we  thought  we 
had  done  it  pretty  carefully. 

Next  morning  the  little  mule  carried  all  the  remain- 
ing load,  the  horses  bearing  only  their  saddles,  and 
seemed  hardly  strong  enough  for  that.  There  was 
now  seven  or  eight  miles  of  clean  loose  sand  to  go 
over,  across  a  little  valley  which  came  to  an  end  about 
ten  miles  north  of  us,  and  extended  south  to  the  lake 
where  we  went  for  water  on  our  outward  journey  and 
found  it  red  alkali.  Near  the  Eastern  edge  of  the 
v^alley  we  turned  aside  to  visit  the  grave  of  Mr.  Lshani, 
which  the}'  had  told  us  of.  They  had  covered  his  re- 
mains with  their  hands  as  best  thej-  could,  piling  up  a 
little  mound  of  sand  over  it.  Our  next  camp  was  to  be  on 
the  summit  of  the  range  just  before  us,  and  we  passed  the 
dead  bod}-  of  Mr.  Fish,  we  had  seen  before,  and  go  on 
a  little  to  a  level  sandy  spot  in  the  ravine  just  large 
-enough  to  sleep  on.  This  whole  range  is  a  black  mass 
rocky  piece  of  earth,  so  barren  that  not  a  spear  of 
grass  can  grow,  and  not  a  drop  of  water  in  any  place. 
We  tied  our  horses  to  rocks  and  there  they  staid  all 
night,  for  if  turned  loose  there  was  not  a  mouthful  of 
food  for  them  to  get. 

In  the  morning  an  important  question  was  to  be 
decided,  and  that  was  whether  we  should  continue  to 
follow  the  Jayhawker's  trail  which  led  far  to  the  north 
to  cross  the  mountain,  which  stood  before  us,  a  mass 


DEATH  VALLEY.  191 

of  piled-up  rocks  so  steep  that  it  seemed  as  if  a  dog 
could  hardly  climb  it.  Our  wagons  were  nearl}-  due 
east  from  this  point  over  the  range,  and  not  more  than 
fifty  miles  away,  while  to  go  arovmd  to  the  north  w^as 
fully  a  hundred  mile.>5,  and  would  take  us  four  or  five 
days  to  make.  As  we  had  already  gone  so  long  we  ex- 
pected to  meet  them  any  day  trying  to  get  out,  and 
if  we  went  around  we  might  miss  them.  They  might 
have  all  been  killed  by  Indians  or  they  might 
have  already  gone.  We  had  great  fears  on  their  ac- 
count. If  they  had  gone  north  they  might  have 
perished  in  the   snow. 

The  range  was  before  us,  and  we  must  get  to  the 
other  side  in  some  wa^-.  We  could  see  the  range  for 
a  hundred  miles  to  the  north  and  along  the  base 
.some  lakes  of  water  that  must  be  salt.  To  the  south 
it  got  .some  lower,  but  very  barren  and  ending  in  black, 
dry  buttes.  The  horses  must  have  food  and  water  by 
night  or  we  must  leave  them  to  die,  and  all 
things  considered  it  seemed  to  oe  the  quickest  way 
to  camp  to  try  and  get  up  a  rough  looking  canon 
which  was  nearly  opposite  us  on  the  other  side.  So 
we  loaded  the  mule  and  made  our  way  down  the 
rocky  road  to  the  ridge,  and  then  left  the  Jayhawker's 
trail,  taking  our  course  more  south  .so  as  to  get 
around  a  salt  lake  which  lay  directly  before  us.  On 
our  way  we  had  to  go  close  to  a  steep  bluff,  and  cross 
a  piece  of  ground  that  looked  like  a  well  dried  mortar 
bed,  hard  and  smooth  as  ice,  and  thus  got  around  the 
head  of  a  small  stream  of  clear  water,  salt  as  brine. 
We  now  went  directly  to  the  mouth  of  the  canon  we 
had  decided  to  take,  and  traveled  up  its  gravelly  bed. 
The  horses  now  had  to  be  urged  along  constantly  to 
keep  them  movnig  and  they  held  their  heads  low  down 
as  they  crept  along  seemingly  so  di  ;c  riraged  that  they 
would  much  rather    lie    down    an  1  rest  forever  than. 


192  DEATH  VALLEY. 

take  another  step.  We  knew  they  would  do  this  soon 
in  spite  of  all  our  urging,  if  we  could  not  get  water 
for  them.  The  canon  was  rough  enough  where  we 
entered  it,  and  a  heav}'  up  grade  too,  and  this 
grew  more  and  more  difficult  as  we  advanced,  and 
the  rough  5ellowish,  rock}-  walls  closed  in  nearer  and 
nearer  together  as  we    ascended. 

A  perpendicular  wall,  or  rather  rise,  in  the  rocks 
-was  approached,  and  there  was  a  great  difficulty  to 
pursuade  the  horses  to  take  exertion  to  get  up  and 
over  the  small  obstruction,  but  the  little  mule  skipped 
over  as  nimbly  as  a  well-fed  goat,  and  rather  seemed 
to  enjo\-  a  little  variety  in  the  proceedings.  After 
some  coaxing  and  urging  the  horses  took  courage  to 
try  the  extra  step  and  succeeded  all  right,  when  we 
all  moved  on  again,  over  a  path  that  grew  more  and 
more  narrow,  more  and  more  rocky  under  foot  at  every 
moment.  We  wound  around  among  and  between  the 
great  rocks,  a ud  had  not  advanced  very  far  before  an- 
other obstruction,  that  would  have  been  a  fall  of  about 
three  feet  had  water  been  flowing  in  the  caiion,  opposed 
our  way.  A  small  pile  of  lone  rocks  enabled  the 
mule  to  go  over  all  right,  and  she  went  on  looking  for 
every  spear  of  grass,  and  smelling  eagerly  lor  water, 
l3ut  all  our  effijrts  were  not  enough  to  get  the  horses 
along  another  foot.  It  was  getting  nearly  night  and 
every  minute  without  water  seemed  an  age.  We  had  to 
leave  the  horses  and  go  on.  We  had  deemed  them 
indispensable  to  us,  or  rather  to  the  extrication  of  the 
women  and  children,  and  yet  the  hope  came  to  us 
that  the  oxen  might  help  some  of  them  out  as  a  last 
resort.  We  were  sure  the  wagons  must  be  abandoned, 
and  such  a  thing  as  women  riding  on  the  backs  of 
oxen  we  had  nev^er  seen,  still  it  occurred  to  us  as  not 
impossible  and  although  leaving  the  horses  here  was 
like  deciding   to    abandon    all    for    the    feeble    ones, 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY.  193 

we  saw  we  must  do  it,  and  the  new  hope  arose  to 
sustam  us  for  farther  effort.  We  removed  the  saddles 
and  placed  them  on  a  rock,  and  after  a  few  moments 
hesitatiou,  moments  in  which  were  crowded  torrents 
of  wild  ideas,  and  desperate  thoughts,  that  were  enough 
to  drive  reason  from  its  throne,  we  l^ft  the  poor 
animals  to  their  fate  and  moved  along.  Just  as  we 
were  passing  o.it  of  si^ht  ths  p3  or  creature?  neighed 
pitifully  after  us,  and  one  who  has  never  heard  the 
last  despairing,  pleading  neigh  of  a  horse  left  to  die 
can  form  no  idea  of  its  almost  human  appeal.  We 
both  burst  into  tears,  but  it  was  no  use,  to  try  to  save 
them  we  must  run  the  danger  of  sacrificing  ourselves, 
and  the  little  party     we    were    trying  so  hard  to  save. 

We  found  the  little  mule  stopped  by  a  still  higher 
precipice  or  perpendicular  rise  of  fully  ten  feel.  Our 
hearts  sank  within  us  and  we  said  that  we  should  re- 
turn to  our  friends  as  we  went  away,  with  our 
knapsacks  on  our  backs,  and  the  hope  grew  ver}^ 
small.  The  little  mule  was  nipping  some  stray  blades 
of  grass  and  as  we  came  in  sight  she  looked  around  to 
us  and  then  up  the  steep  rocks  before  her  with  such  a 
knowing,  intelligent  look  of  confidence,  that  it  gave 
us  new  courage.  It  was  a  strange  wild  place.  The 
north  wall  of  the  canon  leaned  far  over  the  channel, 
overhanging  considerably,  while  the  south  wall 
sloped  back  about  the  same,  making  the  wall  nearly 
parallel,  and  like  a  huge  crevice  descending  into  the 
mountain  from  above  in  a    sloping  direction. 

We  decided  to  try  to  get  the  confident  little  mule 
over  this  obstruction.  Gathering  all  the  loose  rocks 
we  could  we  piled  them  up  against  the  south  wall, 
beginning  some  distance  below,  putting  up  all  those 
in  the  bed  of  the  stream  and  throwing  down  others 
from  narrow  shelves  above  we  built  a  sort  of  inclined 
plane  along  the  walls    gradually    rising    till  we  were 


194  DEATH  VALLEY. 

nearly  as  high  as  the  crest  of  the  fall.  Here  was  a 
narrow  shelf  scarcely  four  inches  wide  and  a  space  of 
from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  to  cross  to  reach  the  level 
of  the  crest.  It  was  all  I  could  do  to  cross  this  space, 
and  there  was  no  foundation  to  enable  us  to  widen  it 
so  as  to  make  a  path  for  an  animal.  It  was  forlorn 
hope  but  we  made  the  most  of  it.  We  unpacked  the 
mule  and  getting  all  our  ropes  together,  made  a 
leading  line  of  it.  Then  we  loosened  and  threw  down 
all  the  projecting  points  of  rocks  we  could  above  the 
narrow  shelf,  and  every  piece  that  was  likel}^  to  come 
loose  in  the  shelf  itself.  We  fastened  the  leading  line 
to  her  and  with  one  above  and  one  below  we  thought 
we  could  help  her  to  keep  her  balance,  and  if  she  did 
not  make  a  misstep  on  that  narrow  way  she  might 
get  over  safely.  Without  a  moments  hesitation  the 
brave  animal  tried  the  pass.  Carefully  and  steadily 
she  went  along,  selecting  a  place  before  putting  down 
a  foot,  and  when  she  came  to  the  narrow  ledge  leaned 
gently  on  the  rope,  never  making  a  sudden  start  or 
jump,  but  cautiously  as  a  cat  moved  slowly  along. 
There  was  now  no  turni.ig  back  for  her.  She  must 
cross  this  narrow  place  over  which  I  had  to  creep  on 
hands  and  knees,  or  be  dashed  down  fifty  feet  to  a 
certain  death.  When  the  worst  place  was  reached 
she  stopped  and  hesitated,  looking  back  as  well  as  she 
could.  I  was  ahead  wdth  the  rope,  and  I  called  en- 
couragingly to  her  and  talked  to  her  a  little.  Rogers 
wanted  to  ge^  all  ready  and  he  said,  "holler"  at  her 
as  loud  as  he  could  and  frighten  her  across,  but  I 
thought  the  best  way  to  talk  to  her  gently  and  let 
her  move   steadily. 

I  tell  you,  friends,  it  was'  a  trying  moment.  It 
seemed  to  be  weighed  down  with  all  the  trails  and 
hardships  of  many  months.  It  seemed  to  be  the  time 
when  helpless  women  and  innocent  children    hung  on 


DEATH  VALLEY.  195 

the  trembling  balance  between  life    and    death.     Our 
own  lives  we  could  save  by    going    back,     and  some- 
times it  seemed  as  if  we  would  perhaps  save  ourselves 
the  additional  sorrow  of  finding  them  all  dead  to  do  so 
at  once.      I  was  so  nearly  in  despair  that  I  could  not 
help  bursting  in  tears,  and  I  was  not  ashamed^of    the 
weakness.     Finally  Rogers  said,  "Come  Lewis"    and 
I  gently  pulled  the  rope,   calling  the  little  animal,  to 
make  a    trial.     She    smelled    all    around  and  looked 
over  every  inch  of    the    strong    ledge,  then  took  one 
careful  step,  after  another  over  the    dangerous   place. 
Looking  back  I  saw   Rogers  with  a    very  large  stone 
in  his  hand,  ready  to  "holler"    and  perhaps    kill  the 
poor  beast  if  she  stopped.      But  she  crept  along   trust 
ing  to  the  rope  to  balance,  tillshe  was  half  way  across, 
then     another    step    or    two,     when    calculating  the 
distance  closely  she  made  a  spring  and    landed    on  a 
smooth  bit  of  sloping  rock  below,  that    led    up  to  the 
highest  crest  of  the  precipice,  and  safely  climbed  to  the 
top,  .safe  and  sound  above  the    falls.     The    mule   had 
no  .shoes  and  it  was  wonderful  how  her  little  hoofs  clung 
to  the  .smooth  rock.     We    felt    relieved.      We    w  ould 
pu.sh  on  and  carry  food  to  the    people;    we  would  get 
them    through    some    way;  there  could    be  no    more 
hopeless  moment  than  the  one  just  past,  and  we  would 
save  them  all. 

It  was  the  work  of  a  little  while  to  transfer  the  load 
up  the  precipice,  and  pack  the  mule  again,  when  we 
proceeded.  Around  behind  some  rocks  only  a  little 
distance  beyond  this  place  we  found  a  small  willow 
bush  and  enough  good  water  for  a  camp.  This  was 
a  strange  caiion.  The  sun  never  shown  down  to  the 
bottom  in  the  fearful  place  where  the  little  mule 
climbed  up,  and  the  rocks  had  a  peculiar  yellow  color. 
In  getting  our  provisions  up  the  precipice,  Rogers 
went  below  and  fastened  the  rope  while  I  pulled  them 


196  DEATH  VALLEY. 

lip.  Rogers  wished  many  times  we  had  the  horses 
up  safely  where  the  mule  was,  but  a  dog  could  hardly 
cross  the  narrow  path  and  there  was  no  hope.  Poor 
brutes,  they  haci  been  faithful  servants,  and  we  felt 
sorrowfal  enough  at  their   terrible  fate. 

We  had  walked  two  days  without  water,  and  we 
were  wonderfully  refreshed  as  we  found  it  here.  The 
way  up  this  caiion  was  very  rough  and  the  bed  full  of 
sharp  broken  rocks  in  loose  pieces  which  cut  through 
the  bottoms  of  our  mocassins  and  left  us  with  bare 
feet  upon  the  acate  points  and  edges.  I  took  off  one  of 
my  buckskin  leggins,  and  gave  it  to  Rogers,  and  with 
the  other  one  for  myself  we  fixed  the  mocassins  with 
them  as  well  as  we  could,  which  enabled  us  to  go 
ahead,  but  I  think  if  our  feet  had  been  shod  with  steel 
those  sharp  rocks  would  have  cut  through. 

Starting  early  we  made  the  summit  about  noon,  and 
from  here  we  could  see  the  place  where  we  found  a 
water  hole  and  camped  the  first  night  after  we  left 
the  wagons.  Down  the  steep  canon  we  turned,  the 
same  one  in  which  we  had  turned  back  with  the 
wagons,  and  over  the  sharp  broken  pieces  of  volcanic 
rock  that  formed  our  only  footing  we  hobbled  along 
with  sore  and  ten  ler  feet.  We  had  to  watch  for  the 
smoothest  place  for  every  step,  and  then  moved  only 
with  the  greatest  difficulty.  The  Indians  could  have 
caught  lis  easily  if  they  had  been  around  for  we  must 
keep  our  eyes  on  the  ground  constantly  and  stop  if  we 
looked  up  and  around.  But  we  at  last  got  down  and 
camped  on  some  spot  ^.-here  we  had  set  out  twenty-five 
days  before  to  seek  the  settlements.  Here  was  the 
same  little  water  hole  in  the  sand  plain,  and  the  same 
strong  sulphur  water  which'  we  had  to  drink  the  day 
we  left.  The  mule  was  turned  loose  dragging  the 
same  piece  of  rawhide  she  had  attached  to  her  when 
we  purchased  her,  and  she  ranged  and  searched  faith- 


DEATH  VALLEY  i97 

fully  for  food  finding  little  except  the  very  scattering 
bunches  of  sage  brush.  She  was  industrious  and 
walked  around  rapidly  picking  here  and  the^e,  but  at 
dark  came  into  camp  and  lay  down  close  to  us  to 
sleep. 

There  was  no  sign  that  any  one  had  been  here 
during  our  absence,  and  if  the  people  had  gone  to 
hunt  a  way  out,  they  must  either  have  followed  the 
Jayhawker's  trail  or  some  other  one.  We  were  much 
afraid  that  they  might  have  fallen  victims  to  the 
Indians.  Remaining  in  camp  so  long  it  was  quite 
likely  they  had  been  discovered  by  them  and  it  was 
quite  likely  they  had  been  murdered  for  the  sake  of 
the  oxen  and  camp  equipage.  It  might  be  that  we 
should  find  the  hostiles  waiting  for  us  when  we 
reached  the  appointed  camping  place,  and  it  was  small 
show  for  two  against  a  party.  Our  mule  and  her  load 
would  be  a  great  capture  for  them.  We  talked  a 
great  deal  and  said  a  great  many  things  at  that  camp 
fire  for  we  knew  we  were  in  great  danger,  and  we  had 
many  doubts  about  the  safety  of  our  people,  that 
would  soon  be  decided,  and  whether  for  joy  or 
sorrow    we   could  not  tell. 

From  this  place,  as  we  walked  along,  we  had  a 
wagon  road  to  follow,  in  soft  sand,  but  not  a  sign  of  a 
human  footstep  could  we  see,  as  we  marched  toward 
this,  the  camp  of  the  last  hope.  We  had  the  greatest 
fears  the  people  had  given  up  our  return  and  started 
out  for  themselves  and  that  we  should  follow  on,  only 
to  'ind  them  dead  or  dying.  My  pen  fails  me  as  I  try 
to  tell  the  feelings  and  thoughts  of  this  trying  hour. 
I  can  never  hope  to  do  so,  but  if  the  reader  can  place 
himself  in  my  place,  his  imagination  cannot  form  a 
picture  that  shall  go  beyond  reality. 

We  were  some  seven  or  eight  miles  along  the  road 
when    I    stopped    to    fix    my  mocassin  while  Rogers 


198  DEATH  VALLEY 

went  slowly  along".  The  little  mule  went  on  ahead  of 
both  of  us,  searching  all  around  for  little  bunches  ot 
dry  grass,  but  always  came  back  to  the  trail  again  and 
gave  us  no  trouble.  When  1  had  started  up  again  I 
saw  Rogers  ahead  leaning  on  his  gun  and  waiting  for 
me,  apparently  looking  at  something  on  the  ground. 
As  I  came  near  enough  to  speak  I  asked  what  he  had 
found  and  he  said — "Here  isCapt.  Culverwell,  dead." 
He  did  not  look  much  like  a  dead  man.  He  lay 
upon  his  back  with  arms  extended  wide,  and  his  little 
canteen,  made  of  two  powder  flasks,  h'ing  by  his  side. 
This  looked  indeed  as  if  some  of  our  saddest  forbodings 
were  coming  true.  How  man)'  more  bodies  should 
we  find?  Or  should  we  find  the  camp  deserted,  and 
never  find  a  trace  of  the  former  occupants. 

We  marched  toward  camp  like  two  Indians,  silent 
and  alert,  looking  out  for  dead  bodies  and  live  Indians, 
for  really  we  more  expected  to  find  the  camp  de- 
vastated by  those  rascals  than  to  find  that  it  still  con- 
tained our  friends.  To  the  east  we  could  plainh-  see 
what  seemed  to  be  a  large  salt  lake  with  a  bed  that 
looked  as  if  of  the  finest,  whitest  sand,  but  really  a 
wonder  of  salt  cr^'stal.  We  put  the  drearj^  steps 
steadily  one  forward  of  another,  the  little  mule  the 
only  unconcerned  one  of  the  party,  ever  looking  for  an 
odd  blade  of  grass,  dried  in  the  hot  dry  wind,  but  yet 
retaining  nourishment,  which  she  preferred. 

About  noon  we  came  in  sight  of  the  wagons,  still  a 
long  way  off,  but  in  the  clear  air  we  could  make 
them  out,  and  tell  what  the}-  were,  without  being  able 
to  see  anything  more.  Half  a  mile  was  the  distance 
between  us  and  the  camp  before  we  could  see  ver}- 
plainly,  as  they  were  in  a  little  depression.  We  could 
see  the  covers  had  been  taken  oif,  and  this  was  an 
ominous  sort  of  circumstance  to  us,  for  we  feared  the 
depredations    of    the    Indians    in    retaliation  for  the 


DEATH  VALLEY.  199 

■capture  of  their  squashes.  They  had  shot  our  oxen 
before  we  left  and  the}-  have  slain  them  this  time  and 
the  people  too. 

We  surely  left  seven  wagons.  Now  we  could  see 
•only  four  and  nowhere  the  sign  of  an  ox.  They  must 
have  gone  ahead  with  a  small  train,  and  left  these 
fotir  standing,  after  dismantling  them. 

No  signs  of  life  were  anywhere  about,  and  the 
thought  of  our  hard  struggles  between  life  and  death 
to  go  out  and  return,  with  the  fruitless  results  that 
now  seemed  apparent  was  almost  more  than  human 
heart  could  bear.  When  should  we  know  their  fate? 
When  should  we  find  their  remains,  and  how  learn  of 
their  sad  history  if  we  ourselves  should  live  to  get 
back  again  to  settlements  and  life?  If  ever  two  men 
were  troubled,  Rogers  and  I  surely  passed  through 
the    furnace. 

We  kept  as  low  and  as  much  out  of  sight  as 
possible,  trusting  very  much  to  the  little  mule  that 
was  ahead,  for  we  felt  sure  she  would  detect  danger 
in  the  air  sooner  than  we,  and  we  watched  her  closel)' 
to  see  how  she  acted.  She  slowly  walked  along 
looking  out  for  food,  and  we  followed  a  little  way 
behind,  but  still  no  decisive  sign  to  settle  the  awful 
suspense  in  which  we  lived  and  suffered.  We  became 
more  and  more  convinced  that  they  had  taken  the 
trail  of  the  Jayhawkers,  and  we  had  missed  them  on 
the  road,  or  they  had  perished  before  reaching  the 
place  where  we  turned  from  their  trail. 

One  hundred  yards  now  to  the  wagons  and  still  no 
sign  of  life,  no  positive  sign  of  death,  tliough  we 
looked  carefully  for  both.  We  fear  that  perhaps  there 
are  Indians  in  ambush,  and  with  ner\'ous  irregular 
breathing  we  counsel  what  to  do.  Finally  Rogers 
suggested  that  he  had  two  charges  in  his  shot  gun  and 
I  seven  in  the  Coil's  rifle  ,  and  that  I  fire  one  of  mine  and 


2O0  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

await  results  before  we  ventured  any  nearer,  and  if 
there  are  any  of  the  red  devils  there  we  can  kill  some 
of  them  before  they  get  to  us.  And  now  both  closely 
watching  the  wagons  I  fired  the  shot.  Still  as  death 
and  not  a  move  for  a  moment,  and  then  as  if  by  magic 
a  man  came  out  from  under  a  wagon  and  stood  up 
looking  all  around,  for  he  did  not  see  us.  Then  he 
threw  up  his  arms  high  over  his  head  and  shouted 
—  "The  boys  have  come'  "The  boA^s  have  come!" 
Then  other  bare  heads  appeared,  and  Mr.  Bennett  and 
wife  and  Mr.  Arcane  came  toward  us  as  fast  as  ever 
they  could.  The  great  suspense  was  over  and  our 
hearts  were  first  in  our  mouths,  and  then  the  blood 
all  went  away  and  left  us  almost  fainting  as  we  stood 
and  tried  to  step.  Some  were  safe  perhaps  all  of  those 
nearest  us,  and  the  dark  shadow  of  death  that  had 
hovered  over  us,  and  cast  what  seemed  a  pall  upon 
every  thought  and  action,  was  lifted  and  fell  awaj-  a 
heavy  oppression  gone.  Bennett  and  Arcane  caught 
us  in  their  arms  and  embraced  us  with  all  their 
strength,  and  Mrs.  Bennett  when  she  came  fell  down 
on  her  knees  and  clung  to  me  like  a  maniac  in  the 
great  emotion  that  came  to  her,  and  not  a  word  was 
spoken.  If  they  had  been  strong  enough  they  would 
have  carried  us  to  camp  upon  their  shoulders.  As  it 
was  they  stopped  two  or  three  times,  and  turned  as  if 
to  speak,  but  there  was  too  much  feeling  for  words, 
convulsive  weeping  would  choke  the  voice. 

All  were  a  little  calmer  soon,  and  Bennett  soon 
found  voice  to  sa}^: — "I  know  3^ou  have  found  some 
place,  for  you  have  a  mule, ' '  and  Mrs.  Bennett  through 
her  tears,  looked  staringly  at  us  as  she  could  hardly 
believe  our  coming  back  was  a  reality,  and  then  ex- 
claimed:— Good  boys!  O,  you  have  saved  us  all! 
God  bless  you  forever!  Such  boys  shoul^.  never  die! 
"It  was    some    time    before    they  could  talk  without 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY.  201 

weeping.  Hope  almost  died  within  them,  and  now 
when  the  first  bright  ray  came  it  almost  turned  reason 
from  its  throne.  A  brighter  happier  look  came  to 
them  than  we  had  seen,  and  then  they  plied  us  with 
questions  the  first  of  which  was: — "Where  were 
you?" 

\Ve  told  them  it  must  be  250  miles  yet  to  any  part 
of  Californa  where  we  could  live.  Then  came  the 
question; —  'Can  we  take  our  wagons?"  "You  will 
have  to  walk,"  was  our  answer,  for  no  wagons  could 
go  over  that  unbroken  road  that  we  had  traveled.  A? 
rapidly  and  caiefully  as  we  could  we  told  them  of  our 
journey,  and  the  long  distance  between  the  water 
holes;  that  we  had  lost  no  time  and  yeihad  been  twenty 
six  days  on  the  road ;  that  for  a  long  distance  the 
country  was  about  as  dry  and  desolate  as  the  region 
we  had  crossed  east  of  this  camp.  We  told  them  of 
the  scarcity  of  grass,  and  all  the  reasons  that  had  kept 
us  so  long  away  from  them. 

We  inquired  after  the  others  whom  we  had  left  in 
camp  when  we  went  awaj",  and  we  were  told  all 
they  knew  about  them.  Hardly  were  we  gone  before 
they  began  to  talk  about  the  state  of  aifairs  which 
existed.  They  said  that  as  they  had  nothing  to  live 
on  but  their  oxen  it  would  be  certain  death  to  wait 
here  and  eat  them,  up,  and  that  it  would  be  much 
better  to  move  on  a  little  every  day  and  get  nearer  and 
nearer  the  goal  before  the  food  failed.  Bennett  told 
them  they  would  know  surely  about  the  way  when 
the  boys  returned,  and  knowing  the  road  would  know 
how  to  manage  and  what  to  expect  and  work  for,  and 
could  get  out  successfully.  But  the  general  opinion 
of  all  but  Mr.  Bennett  and  Mr.  Arcane  and  theij 
families  was,  as  expressed  by  one  of  them: — "If  thosa 
boys  ever  get  out  of  this  cussed  hole,  the}-  are  d — d 
fools  if  they  ever  come  back  to  help  anybody." 


202  DEATH  VALLEY. 

Some  did  not  stay  more  than  a  week  after  we  were 
gone,  but  took  their  oxen  and  blankets  and  started 
on.  They  could  not  be  content  to  staj-  idly  in  camp 
with  nothing  to  occupy  their  minds  or  bodies.  Thej- 
could  see  that  an  ox  when  killed  would  feed  them 
onl}'  a  few  days,  and  that  they  could  not  live  long  on 
them,  and  it  stood  them  in  hand  to  get  nearer  the 
western  shore  as  the  less  distance  the  more  hope  while 
the  meat  lasted.  Bennett  implored  them  to  stay  as 
he  was  sure  we  would  come  back,  and  if  the  most  of 
them  deserted  him  he  would  be  exposed  to  the  danger 
of  the  Indians,  with  no  hope  of  a  successful  resistance 
against  them. 

But  the  most  seemed  to  think  that  to  stay  was  to 
die,  and  it  would  be  better  to  die  trying  to  escape 
than  to  set  idly  down  to  perish.  These  men  seemed 
to  think  their  first  duty  was  to  save  themselves,  and 
if  fortunate,  help  others  afterward,  so  they  packed 
their  oxen  and  left  in  separate  parties,  the  last  some 
two  weeks  before.  The}^  said  that  Capt.  Culverwell 
went  with  the  last  party.  I  afterward  learned  that  he 
could  not  keep  up  with  them  and  turned  to  go  back 
to  the  wagons  again,  and  perished,  stretched  out 
upon  the  sand  as  we  saw  him,  dying  all  alone,  with 
no  one  to  transmit  his  last  words  to  family  or  friends. 
Not  a  morsel  to  eat,  and  the  little  canteen  by  his  side 
empty.     A  sad  and  lonely  death  indeed! 

There  was  no  end  to  the  questions  about  the  road 
we  had  to  answer,  for  this  was  uppermost  on  their 
minds,  and  we  tried  to  tell  them  and  show  them  how 
we  must  get  along  on  our  return.  We  told  them  of  the 
great  snow  mountains  we  had- seen  all  to  the  north  of 
our  road,  and  how  deep  the  snow  appeared  to  be,  and 
how  far  west  it  extended.  We  told  them  of  the  black 
and  desolate  ranges  and  buttes  to  the  south,  and  of 
the  great  dry  plains  in  the  same    direction.     We  told 


DEATH  V  ALLEY.  203 

thein  of  the  Ja3'hawkers  trail;  of  Fish's  dead  body; 
of  the  salt  lake  and  slippery  alkali  water  to  w  hich  we 
walked,  onl}-  to  turn  awaj-  in  disappointment;  of  the 
little  sheets  of  ice  which  saved  our  lives;  of  Doty's 
camp  and  what  we  knew  of  those  gone  before:  of  the 
discouraged  ones  who  gave  us  their  names  to  send 
back  to  friends;  of  the  hawk  and  crow  diet;  of  my 
lameness;  of  the  final  coming  out  into  a  beautiful 
valley,  in  the  midst  of  fat  cattle  and  green  meadows, 
and  the  trouble  to  get  the  help  arranged  on  account  of 
not  knowing  the  language  to  tell  the  people  what  we 
needed.  They  were  deeply  impressed  that  my  lame- 
ness had  been  a  ble-^^ing  in  disguise,  or  we  would 
have  gone  on  to  the  coast  and  consumed  more  time 
than  we  did  in  walking  slowly  to  favor  the  cripple 
knee,  Our  sad  adventures  and  loss  of  the  horses  in 
returning  was  sorrowfully  told  and  we  spoke  of  the 
provisions  we  had  been  able  to  bring  on  the  little 
mule  which  had  clambered  over  the  rocks  like  a  cat; 
that  we  had  a  little  flour  and  beans,  and  some  good 
dried  meat  with  fat  on  it  which  we  hoped  would  help 
to  eke  out  the  poorer  fare  and  get  them  through  at 
last.  They  were  so  full  of  compliments  that  we  really 
began  to  think  we  had  been  brought  into  the  world  on 
purpose  to  assist  some  one,  and  the  one  who  could 
forecast  all  things  had  directed  us,  and  all  our  ways, 
so  that  we  should  save  those  people  and  bring  them 
to  a  better  part  of  God's  footstool,  where  plenty 
might  be  enjoyed,  and  the  sorrows  of  the  desert  for- 
gotton.  It  was  midnight  before  we  could  get  them 
all  satisfied  with  their  knowledge  of  our  experience. 
It  was  quite  a  treat  to  us  to  sleep  again  between 
good  blankets,  arranged  by  a  woman's  hand,  and  it 
was  much  better  resting  than  the  curled  up,  cramped 
position  we  had  slept  in  while  away,  with  only  the 
poor  protection  of   the  half  blanket  for  both  of  us,  in 


204  DEATH  VALLEY 

nights  that  were  pretty  chilly. 

We  had  plenty  of  water  here,  and  there  being  no 
fear  of  the  mule  going  astray  we  turned  her  loose. 
As  the  party  had  seen  no  Indians  during  our  absence 
we  did  not  concern  ouselves  much  about  them.  At 
breakfast  we  cautioned  them  about  eating  too  much 
bread,  remembering,  our  own  experience  in  that 
way. 

They  said  they  had  about  given  up  our  coming  back 
a  week  before,  and  had  set  about  getting  ready  to 
try  to  move  on  themselves.  Bennett  said  he  was 
satisfied  that  they  never  could  have  got  through  alone 
after  what  we  had  told  them  of  the  route  and  its 
dangers.  He  said  he  knew  it  now  that  not  one  of 
them  would  have  lived  if  they  had  undertaken  the 
journey  alone  without  knowledge  of  the  wa\-. 

Thej-  had  taken  off  the  covers  of  the  wagons  to 
make  them  into  houses  for  the  oxen,  so  they  could  be 
used  as  pack  animals.  The  strong  cloth  had  been  cut 
into  narrow  strips  and  well  made  into  breast  straps 
and  breeching,  for  the  cattle  were  so  poor  and  their 
hide  so  loose  it  was  almost  impossible  to  keep  anything 
on  their  backs.  They  had  emptied  the  feathers  out 
of  the  beds  to  get  the  cloth  to  use,  and  had  tried  to  do 
everything  that  seemed  best  to  do  to  get  along  with- 
out wagons.  The  oxen  came  up  for  water,  and  the 
mule  with  them.  They  looked  better  than  when  we 
left,  but  were  still  poor.  They  had  rested  for  some 
time  and  might  feel  able  to  go  along  willingly  for  a 
few  days  at  least.  I  was  handy  with  the  needle,  and 
helped  them  to  complete  the  harness  for  the  oxen, 
while  Bennett  and  John  went  to  the  lake  to  get  a 
supply  of  salt  to  take  along,  a  most  necessary  article 
with  our  fresh  meat.  I  looked  around  a  little  at  our 
surroundings,  and  could  see  the  snow  still  drifting 
over  the  peak  of  the  snowy  mountain  as  we  had  seen  it 


DEATH  VALLEY.  205 

farther  east,  where  we  were  ourselves  under  the 
burning  sun.  This  was  now  pretty  near  February 
first,  or  midwinter.  The  eastern  side  of  this  great 
mountain  was  too  steep  to  be  ascended,  and  no  sign 
of  a  tree  could  be  seen  on  the  the  whole  eastern  slope. 
The  range  of  mountains  on  the  east  side  of  this  narrow 
valley  were  nearly  all  the  volcanic,  barren  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  the  roughest  of  all  the  mountains  we  had 
ever  seen.  I  had  now  looked  pretty  thoroughly,  and 
found  it  to  be  pretty  nearly  a  hundred  miles  long,  and 
this  was  the  only  camp  I  had  seen  where  water  could 
be  had. 

When  Mrs.  Bennet  was  ready  to  show  me  what  to 
do  on  the  cloth  harness,  we  took  a  seat  under  the 
wagon,  the  only  shady  place  and  began  work. 
The  great  mountain,  I  have  spoken  of 
as  the  snow  mountain  has  since  been  known  as 
Telescope  Peak,  reported  to  be  11,000  feet  high.  It 
is  in  the  range  running  north  and  south  and  has  no 
other  peak  so  high.  Mrs.  Bennett  questioned  me 
closely  about  the  trip,  and  particularly  if  I  had  left 
anything  out  which  I  did  not  want  her  to  know.  She 
said  she  saw  her  chance  to  ride  was  very  slim,  and 
she  .spoke  particularly  of  the  children,  and  that  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  walk.  She  said  little 
Martha  had  been  very  sick  since  we  had  been  gone,  and 
that  for  many  days  they  had  expected  her  to  die. 
They  had  no  medicine  to  relieve  her  and  the  best  they 
could  do  was  to  select  the  best  of  the  ox  meat,  and 
make  a  little  soup  of  it  and  feed  her,  they  had 
watched  her  carefully  for  many  days  and  nights,  ex- 
pecting they  would  have  to  part  with  her  any  time 
and  bury  her  little  body  in  the  sands.  Sometimes  it 
seemed  as  if  her  breath  would  stop,  but  they  had 
never  failed  in  their  attentions,  and  were  at  la.st  re- 
warded   by    seeing  her   improve    slowly,  and  even  to 


2o6  DEATH  VALLEY. 

relish  a  little  food,  so  that  if  no  relapse  set  in  they  had 
hopes  to  bring  her  through.  Thej^  brought  the  little 
one  and  showed  her  to  me,  and  she  seemed  so  different 
from  what  she  was  when  we  went  away.  Then  she 
could  run  about  camp  climb  out  and  in  the  wagons,  and 
move  about  so  spry  that  she  reminded  one  of  a  quail. 
Now  she  w^as  strangely  misshapen.  Her  limbs  had 
lost  all  the  flesh  and  seemed  nothing  but  skin  and 
bones,  while  her  body  had  grown  corpulent  and 
distended,  and  her  face  had  a  starved  pinched  and 
suffering  look,  with  no  healthy  color  in  it. 

She  told  me  of  their  sufferings  while  we  were  gone, 
and  said  she  often  dreamed  ,  she  saw  us  suffering 
fearfully  for  water,  and  lack  of  food  and  could  only 
picture  to  herself  as  their  own  fate,  that  thej'  must 
leave  the  children  by  the  trail  side,  dead,  and  one  by 
one  drop  out  themselves  in  the  same  way.  She  said 
she  dreamed  often  of  her  old  home  where  bread  was 
plenty,  and  then  to  awake  to  find  her  husband  and 
children  starving  was  a  severe  trial  indeed,  and  the 
contrast  terrible.  She  was  anxious  to  get  me  to  ex- 
press an  opinion  as  to  whether  I  thought  we  could  get 
the  oxen  down  the  falls  where  we  hcd  so  much 
trouble. 

I  talked  to  her  as  encouragingly  as  I  could,  but  she 
did  not  cheer  up  much  and  sobbed  and  wept  over  her 
work  most  all  the  time.  It  was  not  possible  to  en- 
courage her  much,  the  outlook  seemed  so  dark.  Mrs. 
Arcane  sat  under  another  wagon  and  said  nothing, 
but  she  probably  heard  all  we  had  to  say,  and  did  not 
look  as  if  her  hopes  were  any  brighter.  Bennett  and 
Rogers  soon  returned  with  a  supply  of  salt  and  said 
the  w'hole  shore  of  the  lake  w^as  a  winrow  of  it,  that 
could  be  shoveled  up  in  enormous   quantities. 

We  now  in  a  counsel  of  the  whole,  talked  over  the 
matter,  and  the  way  which  seemed    most    promising. 


DEATH  VALLEY  207 

If  we  went  by  the  Jayhawkers  trail,  there  was  a  week 
of  solid  travel  to  get  over  the  range  and  back  south 
again  as  far  as  a  point  directly  opposite  our  camp, 
and  this  had  taken  us  only  three  days  to  come  over  as 
we  had  come.  The  only  obstacle  in  the  way  was  the 
falls,  and  when  we  explained  that  there  was  some 
sand  at  the  bottom  of  them,  Bennett  said  he  thought 
we  could  get  them  over  without  killing  them,  and  that, 
as  we  knew  exactly  where  the  water  was,  this  was 
the  best  trail  to  take.  Arcane  was  quite  of  the  same 
opinion,  the  saving  of  a  week  of  hard  and  tiresome 
travel  being  in  each  case  the  deciding  reason.  They 
then  explained  to  me  what  they  had  decided  on  doing 
if  we  had  not  come  back.  They  had  selected  two 
oxen  for  the  women  to  ride  one  to  carry  water  and 
one  to  carrj^the  four  children.  There  were  no  saddles 
but  blankets  enough  to  make  a  soft  seat,  and  they 
proposed  to  put  a  band  or  belt  around  the  animals  for 
them  to  hold  on  by,  and  the  blankets  would  be  re- 
tained in  place  by  breast  and  breeching  straps  which 
we  had  made.  They  had  found  out  that  it  was  very 
difficult  to  keep  a  load  of  any  kind  upon  an  o.x,  and 
had  devised  all  this  harness  to  meet  the  trouble. 

Bennett  had  one  old  bridle  ox  called  Old  Crump, 
which  had  been  selected  to  carry  the  children,  because 
he  was  slow  and  steady.  How  in  the  world  do  you 
expect  it  to  keep  the  children  on? — said  I.  "Well" 
— said  Bennett,  with  a  sort  of  comical  air,  about  the 
first  relief  from  the  sad  line  of  thought  that  had 
possessed  us  all — "We  have  taken  two  strong  hickory 
shirts,  turned  the  sleeves  inside,  sewed  up  the  necks, 
then  sewed  the  two  shirts  together  by  the  tail,  and  . 
when  these  are  placed  on  the  ox  they  will  make  two 
pockets  for  the  youngest  children,  au-l  we  think  the 
two  others  will  be  able  to  cling  to  his  back  with  the 
help  of  a  band  around  the  body    of    the    ox  to  which 


2o8  DEATH  VALLEY. 

they  can  cling  to,  with  their  hands. ' '  Now  if  Old 
Crump  went  steady  and  did  not  kick  up  and  scatter 
things,  he  thought  this  plan  would  operate  first  rate. 
Now  as  to  the  mule  they  proposed  as  we  knew  how 
to  pack  the  animal,  that  we  should  use  her  to  pack 
our    provisions  so  they  would  go  safe. 

From  a  piece  of  hide  yet  remaining  John  and  I 
made  ourselves  some  new  mocassins,  and  were  all 
ready  to  try  the  trip  over  our  old  trail  for  now  the 
third  time,   and  the  last,   we  hoped. 

Mrs.  Bennett  and  Mrs.  Arcane  had  taken  our  advice, 
and  in  cooking  had  not  put  too  much  of  the  flour  or 
beans  into  the  soup  for  the  children  and  they  had 
gotten  along  niceh^  and  even  began  to  smile  a  little 
with  satisfaction  after  a  full  meal.  They  got  along 
better  than  John  and  I  did  when  we  got  hold  of  the 
first  nutritions  after  our  arrival  on  the  other  side. 

We  must  leave  everj^thing  here  we  can  get  along 
without.  No  clothing  except  that  on  our  backs. 
Only  a  camp  kettle  in  which  to  make  soup,  a  tin  cup 
for  each  one,  and  some  knivei  and  spoons  which  each 
happen  to  have.  Each  one  had  some  sort  of  a 
canteen  for  water,  which  we  must  fill  up  at  every 
opportunity,  and  we  decided  to  carry  a  shovel  along, 
so  we  might  bury  the  body  of  Capt.  Culverwell,  and 
shovel  up  a  pile  of  sand  at  the  falls  to  enable  us  to 
get  the  oxen  over.  Every  ox  had  a  cloth  halter  on 
his  head,  so  he  might  be  led,  or  tied  up  at  night  when 
we  had  a  dry  camp,  and  they  would  most  assuredly 
wander  off  if  not  secured.  Old  Crump  was  chosen  to 
lead  the  train,  and  Rogers  was  to  lead  him.  We  had 
made  an  extra  halter  for  this  old  fellow,  and  quite  a 
long  strip  of  bed  ticking  sewed  into  a  strap  to  lead 
him  oy. 

This  packing  buiness  was  a  new  idea,  and  a  hard 
matter  to  get  anything  firmly    fixed    on  their  backs. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  209 

We  had  made  shoulder  straps,  hip  straps,  breast 
straps  and  breeching  as  the  correct  idea  for  a  harness . 
The  only  way  we  could  fasten  the  band  around 
the  animals  was  for  one  to  get  on  each  side  and 
pull  it  as  tight  as  possible  then  t'.e  a  knot,  as  we  had 
no  buckles  Oi  ring  in  our  harness. 

The  loads  of  the  oxen  consisted  of  blankets  and 
bedding  and  a  small,  light  tent  of  their  sheeting  about 
four  by  six  feet  in  size.  We  rose  early  and  worked 
hard  till  about  the  middle  of  the  forenoon  getting  all 
things  ready.  They  had  been  in  a  state  of  masterly 
inactivi  ty  so  long  in  this  one  camp  that  they  were 
anxious  to  leave  it  now  forever.  Only  in  progress 
was  there  hope,  and  this  was  our  last  and  only  chance. 
Wc  must  succeed  or  perish.  We  loaded  the  animals 
from  the  wagons,  and  some  of  the  oxen  seemed  quite 
afraid  at  this  new  way  of  carrying  loads.  Old  Crump 
was  pretty  steady,  and  so  was  the  one  with  the  two 
water  kegs  one  on  each  side  but  the  other  oxen  did 
not  seem  to  think  they  needed  any  blankets  on  these 
warm  days. 

Mrs.  Arcane  was  from  a  city,  and  had  fondly  con- 
veyed thus  far  some  articles  of  finery,  of  considera  ble 
value  and  much  prized.  She  could  not  be  per- 
suaded to  leave  them  here  to  deck  the  red  man's  wife, 
and  have  her  go  flirting  over  the  mountains  with,  and 
as  they  had  little  weight  she  concluded  she  would 
wear  them  and  this  perhaps  would  preserve  them 
So  she  got  out  her  best  hat  and  trimmed  it  up  with 
extra  ribbon  leaving  some  with  quite  long  ends  to 
stream  out  behind.  Arcane  brought  up  his  ox  Old 
Brigham,  for  he  had  been  purchased  at  Salt  Lake  and 
named  in  honor  of  the  great    Mormon  Saint. 

Mrs.  Arcane  also  dressed  her  little  boy  Charlie  up 
in  his  best  suit  of  clothes,  for  she  thought  they  might 
as  well  wear  them  out  as   to  throw  them  away.     She 


2IO  DEATH  VALLEY. 

made  one  think  of  a  fairy  in  gay  and  flying  apparel. 
In  the  same  way  all  selected  their  best  and  most 
servicable  garments,  for  it  was  not  considered 
prudent  to  carry  any  load,  and  poor  clothes  were  good 
enough  to  leave  for  Indians.  We  set  it  down  as  a 
principle  that  we  must  save  ourselves  all  we  could,  for 
it  would  be  a  close  contested  struggle  with  us  and  death, 
at  the  very  best,  and  we  wanted  to  get  all  the  advantage 
for  ourselves  we  could.  As  we  were  making  the 
preparations  the  women  grew  more  hopeful,  as  it 
seemed  as  if  something  was  reall}'  going  to  be 
accomplished. 

Bennett  and  Arcane  were  emphatic  in  their  belief 
and  expressions  that  we  would  succeed.  "I  know  it — 
Dont  you  Sally?"  said  Bennett  very  cheerfully,  but 
after  all  Mrs.  Bennett  could  not  answer  quite  as 
positively,  but  said  "I  hope  so." — Mrs.  Bennett's 
maiden  name  was  Sarah  Dilley,  which  I  mention 
here  as  I  may  otherwise  forget  it  afterward.  She 
realized  that  hers  was  no  easy  place  to  ride,  that  they 
would  have  hard  fare  at  best,  and  that  it  must  be 
nearly  or  quite  a  month  before  they  could  reach  a 
fertile  spot  on  which  to  place  her  feet.  O^^  could 
easily  see  that  the  future  looked  quite  a  little  dark  to 
her,  on  account  of  her  children,  as  a  mother  naturally 
would. 

High  overhead  was  the  sun,  and  verj-  warm  indeed 
on  that  day  in  the  fore  part  of  Februarj^  18 50,  when 
the  two  children  were  put  on  Old  Crump  to  see  if  he 
would  let  them  ride.  The  two  small  children  were 
placed  in  the  pockets  on  each  side,  face  outward,  and 
they  could  stand  or  sit  as  they  should  choose. 
George  and  Melissa  were  placed  on  top  and  given 
hold. of  the  strap  that  was  to  steady  them  in  their 
place.  I  now  led  up  Mrs.  Bennett's  ox  and  Mr. 
Bennett  helped  his     wife    to  mount    the    animal,    on 


DEATH  VALLEY.  211 

whose  back  as  soft  a  seat  as  possible  had  been  con- 
structed. Mrs.  Arcane  in  her  ribbons  was  now  helped 
to  her  seat  on  the  back  of  Old  Brighara  and  she  care- 
full  y  adjusted  herself  to  position,  and  arranged  her 
dress  and  ornaments  to  suit,  then  took  hold  of  the 
strap  that  served  to  hold  on  by  as  there  were  no 
bridles  on  these  two. 

Rogers  led  the  march  with  his  ox;  Bennett  and  I 
started  the  others  along,  and  Arcane  followed  with 
Old  Crump  and  the  children.  Bennett  and  Arcane 
took  oflF  their  hats  and  bade  the  old  camp  good  bye. 
The  whole  procession  moved,  and  we  were  once  more 
going  toward  our  journey's  end  we  hoped.  The  road 
".-as  sandy  and  soft,  the  grade  practically  level,  and 
everything  went  well  for  about  four  miles,  when  the 
pack  on  one  of  the  oxen  near  the  lead  got  loose  and 
and  turned  over  to  one  side,  which  he  no  sooner  saw 
thus  out  of  position,  then  he  tried  to  getaway  from  it 
by  moving  sidewise.  Not  getting  clear  of  the 
objectionable  load  in  thiswa}'  he  tried  to  kick  it  off, 
and  thus  really  got  his  foot  in  it,  making  matters 
worse  instead  of  better.  Then  he  began  a  regular 
waltz  and  bawled  at  the  top  of  his  voice  in  terror. 
Rogers  tried  to  catch  him  but  his  own  animal  was  so 
frisky  that  he  could  not  hold  him  and  do  much  else, 
and  the  spirit  of  fear  soon  began  to  be  communicated 
to  the  others  and  soon  the  whole  train  seemed  to  be 
taken  crazy. 

They  would  jump  up  high  and  then  come  down, 
sticking  their  fore  feet  as  far  as  possible  into  the  sand 
after  which,  with  elevated  tails,  and  terrible  plunges 
would  kick  and  thrash  and  run  till  the  packs  came  off, 
when  the}'  stopped  apparently  quite  satisfied.  Mrs. 
Bennett  slipped  off  her  ox  as  quick  as  she  could, 
grabbed  her  baby  from  the  pocket  on  Old  Crump,  and 
shouting    to    MelLssa    and    George    to  jump,  got  her 


212  DEATH  YALLEY. 

family  into  safe  position  in  pretty  short  order. 
Arcane  took  his  Charley  fiom  the  other  pocket  and 
laid  him  on  the  ground,  while  he  devoted  his  own  at- 
tention to  the  animals.  Mrs.  Arcane 's  ox  followed 
suit,  and  waltzed  around  in  the  sand,  bawled  ai  every 
turn,  fully  as  bad  as  any  of  the  others,  but  Mrs. 
Arcane  proved  to  be  a  good  rider,  and  hard  to  unseat, 
clinging  desperately  to  her  strap  as  ^he  was  tossed 
up  and  down,  and  whirled  about  at  a  rate  enough  to 
to  make  any  one  dizzy.  Her  many  fine  ribbons  flew 
out  behind  like  the  streamers  from  a  mast-head,  and 
the  many  fancy  fixin's  she  had  donned  fluttered  in  the 
air  in  gayest  mockery.  Eventually  she  was  thrown 
however,  but  without  the  least  injury  to  herself, 
but  somewhat  disordered  in  raiment.  When  I  saw 
Bennett  he  was  standing  half  bent  over  laughing  in 
almost  hysterical  convulsion  at  the  entirely  impromptu 
circus  which  had  so  suddenly  performed  an  act  not  on 
the  program.  Arcane  was  much  pleased  and 
laughed  heartily  when  he  saw  no  one  was  hurt.  We 
did  not  think  the  cattle  had  so  much  life  and  so  little 
sense  as  to  waste  their  energies  so  uselessly.  The 
little  mule  stepped  out  one  side  and  looked  on  in 
amazement,  with  out  disarranging  any  article  of  her 
load. 

Mrs.  Bennett,  carrying  her  baby  and  walking 
around  to  keep  out  of  the  way,  got  very  much  ex- 
hausted, and  sat  down  on  the  sand,  her  face  as  red  as 
if  the  blood  were  about  to  burst  through  the  skin,  and 
perspiring  freely.  We  carried  a  blanket  and  spread 
down  for  her  while  we  gathered  in  the  scattered 
baggage.  Then  the  oxen  were  got  together  again, 
and  submitted  to  being  loaded  up  again  as  quietly  as 
if  nothing  had  happened.  Myself  and  the  women 
had  to  mend  the  harness  considerably,  and  Arcane 
and  his  ox  went  back  for  some    water,     while  Rogers 


DEATH  VATXEY.  213 

and  Benii'^tt  took  the  shovel  and  went  ahead  about  a 
mile  to  cover  up  the  body  of  Capt.  Culverwell,  for 
some  of  the  party  feared  the  cattle  might  be  terrified 
at  seeing-  it.  All  this  took  so  much  time  that  we  had 
to  make  a  camp  of  it  right  here. 

We  put  the  camp  kettle  on  two  stones,  built  a  fire, 
put  in  some  beans  and  dried  meat  cut  very  fine,  which 
•cookc^  till  Arcane  came  with  more  water,  which  was 
added,  and  thickened  with  a  little  of  the  unbolted 
flour,  making  a  pretty  good  and  nutritious  soup 
which  we  all  enjoyed.  We  had  to  secure  the  animals, 
for  there  was  neither  grass  nor  water  for  them,  and 
we  thought  they  might  not  be  in  so  good  spirits  another 
day. 

We  had  little  trouble  in  packing  up  again  in  the 
morning,  and  concluded  to  take  a  nearer  route  to  the 
summit,  so  as  to  more  quickly  reach  the  water  holes 
where  Rogers  and  I  camped  on  our  first  trip  over  the 
■country.  This  would  be  a  hard  rocky  road  on  its  course 
leading  up  a  small  rocky  canon,  hard  on  the  feet  of 
the  oxen,  so  they  had  to  be  constantly  urged  on,  as  they 
seemed  very  tender  footed.  They  showed  no  dis- 
position to  go  on  a  spree  again  and  so  far  as  keeping 
•the  loads  on,  behaved  very  well  indeed.  The  women 
did  not  attempt  to  ride  but  followed  on,  close  after 
Old  Crump  and  the  children  who  required  almost 
constant  attention,  for  in  their  cramped  position  they 
made  many  cries  and  complaints.  To  think  of  it,  two 
children  cramped  up  in  narrow  pockets,  in  which  they 
could  not  turn  around,  jolted  and  pitched  around  over 
the  rough  road,  made  them  objects  of  great  suffering 
to  themselves  and  anxiety  and  labor  on  the  part  of  the 
mothers. 

Mrs.  Bennett  said  she  would  carry  her  baby  if  she 
could,  but  her  own  body  was  so  heavy  for  her  strength 
.that    she    could    not    do    it.      Bennett,     Rogers  and 


214  DEATH  VALLEY. 

myself  hurried  the  oxen  all  we  could,  so  that  we  could 
reach  the  water,  and  let  Bennett  go  back  with  some 
to  meet  the  rest  and  refresh  them  for  the  end  of  the 
day's  march,  and  he  could  take  poor  little  Martha 
from  the  pocket  and  carr}-  her  in  his  arms,  which 
would  be  a  great  relief  to  her.  Arcane  also  took  his 
child  when  he  met  them,  throwing  away  his  double 
barrel  gun,  saying: — "I  have  no  use  for  you." 

When  the  women  reached  camp  we  had  blankets 
already  spread  down  for  them,  on  which  they  cast 
themselves,  so  tired  as  to  be  nearly  dead.  They  were 
so  tired  and  discouraged  they  were  ready  to  die,  for 
they  felt  the^-  could  not  endure   many  da3'S  like    this. 

We  told  them  this  was  the  first  day  and  they  were 
not  used  to  exercise  therefore  more  easily  tired  than 
after  they  became  a  little  used  to  it.  We  told  them 
not  to  be  discouraged,  for  we  knew  every  water  hole,, 
and  all  the  road  over  which  we  w^ould  pilot  them 
safel5^  They  would  not  consent  to  try  riding  again,. 
after  their  circus  experience,  and  Mrs.  Arcane  said 
her  limbs  ached  so  much  she  did  not  think  she  could 
even  go  on  the  next  dav'.  The)'  had  climbed  over 
the  rocks  all  day,  and  were  lame  and  sore,  andtruely 
thought  they  could  not  endure  such  another  daj-  .The 
trail  had  been  more  like  stairs  than  a  road  in  its  steep 
ascent,  and  our  camp  was  at  a  narrow  pass  in  the 
Tange.  The  sky  was  clear  and  cloudless,  as  it  had 
been  for  so  long  for  thus  far  upon  this  route  no  rain  had 
fallen,  and  only  once  a  little  snow,  that  came  to  us 
like  manna  in  the  desert.  For  many  days  we  had 
been  obliged  to  go  without  water  both  we  and  our 
cattle,  and  over  the  route  w'e  had  come  we  had  not 
seen  any  signs  of  a  white  man's  presence  older  than 
our  own.  I  have  no  doubt  we  were  the  first  to  cross 
the  valley  in  this  location,  a  visible  sink  hole  in  the 
desert. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  215 

The  women  did  not  recover  sufficient  energy  to  re- 
move their  clothing,  but  slept  as  they  were,  and  sat 
i\p  and  looked  around  with  uncombed  hair  in  the 
morning,  perfect  pictures  of  dejection.  We  let  them 
rest  as  long  as  we  could,  for  their  swollen  eyes  and 
stiffened  joints  told  how  sadly  unprepared  they  were 
to  go  forward  at  once.  The  sun  v,ame  out  early  and 
m  ade  it  comfortable,  while  a  cool  and  tonic  breeze, 
came  down  from  the  great  snow  mountain  the  very 
thing  to  brace  them  up   after  a  thorough  rest. 

The  slope  to  the  east  was  soon  met  by  a  high  ridge 
ard  between  this  and  the  main  mountain  was  a  gentle 
slope  scattercxil  over  with  sage  brush,  and  a  few  little 
stools  of  bunch  grass  here  and  there  between.  This 
gave  our  oxen  a  little  food  and  by  dipping  out  the 
water  from  the  holes  and  letting  them  fill  up  again 
we  managed  to  get  water  for  camp  use  and  to  give 
the  animals  nearly  all  they  wanted. 

While  waiting  for  the  women  Bennett  and  Arcane 
wanted  to  go  out  and  get  a  good  view  of  the  great 
snowy  mountain  I  had  told  them  so  much  about. 
The  best  point  of  view  was  near  our  camp,  perhaps 
three  or  four  hundred  yards  away,  and  I  went  with 
them.  This  place  where  we  now  stood  was  lower 
than  the  mountains  either  north  or  south,  but  were 
difficult  to  climb,  and  gave  a  good  view  in  almost 
every  direction,  and  there,  on  the  back  bone  of  the 
ridge  we  had  a  grand  outlook,  but  some  parts  of  it 
brought  back  doleful  recollections.  They  said  they 
had  traveled  in  sight  of  that  mountain  for  months 
and  seen  many  strange  formations,  but  never  one  like 
this,  as  developed  from  this  point.  It  looked  to  ])e 
seventy-five  miles  to  its  base,  and  to  the  north  and 
west  there  was  a  succession  of  snowy  peaks  that 
seemed  to  have  no  end.  Bennett  and  Arcane  said 
they    never     before     supposed     America     contained 


2i6  DEATH  VALLEY. 

mountains  so  grand  with  peaks  that  so  nearly  seemed 
to  pierce  the  sky.  Nothing  except  a  bird  could  ever 
cross  such  steep  ranges  as  that  one. 

West  and  south  it  seemed  level,  and  low,  dark  and 
barren  buttes  rose  from  the  plain,  but  never  high 
enough  to  carry  snow,  even  at  this  season  of  the  year. 
I  pointed  out  to  them  the  route  we  were  to  follow, 
noting  the  prominent  points,  and  it  could  be  traced 
for  fully  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  from  the 
point  on  which  we  stood.  This  plain,  with  its  barren 
ranges  and  buttes  is  now  known  as  the  Mojave 
Desert.  This  part  of  the  view  they  seemed  to  study 
over,  as  if  to  fix  every  point  and  water  hole  upon 
their  memory.  We  turned  to  go  to  camp,  but  no 
one  looked  back  on  the  country  we  had  come  over 
since  we  first  made  out  the  distant  snow  peak,  now 
so  near  us,  on  November  4th  1849.  The  only  butte 
in  this  directicn  that  carried  snow  was  the  one  where 
we  captured  the  Indian  and  where  the  squashes  were 
found. 

The  range  next  east  of  us  across  the  low  valley 
was  barren  to  look  upon  as  a  naked,  single  rock. 
There  were  peaks  of  various  heights  and  colors,  yellow, 
blue  firery  red  and  nearly  black.  It  looked  as  if  it 
might  sometime  have  been  the  center  of  a  mammoth 
furnace.  I  believe  this  range  is  known  as  the  Coffin 's 
Mountains.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  earth  enough 
in  the  whole  of  it  to  cover  a  coffin. 

Just  as  we  were  ready  to  leave  and  return  to  camp 
we  took  off"  our  hats,  and  then  overlooking  the  scene 
of  so  much  trial,  suffering  and  death  spoke  the 
thought  uppermost  saying: — ''Good  bye  Death  Valley P' 
then  faced  away  and  made  our  steps  toward  camp. 
Even  after  this  in  speaking  of  this  long  and  narrow 
valley  over  which  we  had  crossed  into  its  nearly  central 
part,  and  on  the  edge    of    which    the  lone    camp  was 


DEATH  VALLEY. 


2:7 


made,  for  so  many  daj's,  it  was  called  Death  Valley. 
Many  accounts  have  been  given  to  the  world  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  name  and  by  whom  it  was  thus  designated 
but  ours  were  the  first  visible  footsteps,  and  we  the 
party  which  named  it  the  saddest  and  most  dreadful 
name    that  came  to  us  first  from  its  memories. 


:2i8  DEATH  VALLEY. 

CHAPTER  XI. 


Out  of  Death  Valley  we  surelj-  were.  To  Rogers 
and  1,  the  case  seemed  hopeful,  for  we  had  con- 
fidence in  the  road  and  believed  all  would  have  power 
to  weather  difficulties,  but  the  poor  women — it  is  hard 
to  say  what  compliants  and  sorrows  were  not  theirs. 
They  seemed  to  think  they  stood  at  death's  door,  and 
would  about  as  soon  enter,  as  to  take  up  a  farther 
march  over  the  black,  desolate  mountains  and  dry 
plains  before  them,  which  they  considered  only  a 
drear)'  vestibule  to  the  dark  door  after  all.  Thej'- 
even  had  an  idea  that  the  road  was  longer  than  we  told 
them,  and  they  never  could  live  to  march  so  far  over 
the  sandy,  rocl:y  roads.  The  first  day  nearly  satisfied 
them  that  it  was  no  use  to  try,  Rogers  and  I  counted 
up  the  camps  we  ought  to  reach  each  day  and  in  this 
way  could  pretty  near  convince  them  of  time  that 
would  be  consumed  in  the  trip.  We  encouraged 
them  in  ever)-  way  we  could;  told  them  we  had  better 
get  along  a  little  every  day  and  make  ourselves  a 
little  nearer  the  promised  land,  and  the  very  exercise 
would  soon  make  them  stronger  and  able  to  make  a 
full  day's  march. 

John  and  I  told  them  we  felt  in  much  better  spirits 
now  than  we  did  when  we  set  out  alone,  and  now 
that  nothing  but  the  arrows  of  an  Indian  could  stop 
us.  We  said  to  them.  "We  are  not  going  to  leave 
you  two  ladies  out  here  to  die  for  there  is  not  a  sign 
of  a  grave  to  put  you  in,— "and  it  was  a  pretty  tough 
place  to  think  of  making  one.  We  told  told  them  of 
the  beautiful  flowery  hillsides  over  the  other  side  and 
Pegged  them  to  go  over  there  to  die,  as  it  would  be 
so  much  better  and  easier  to  perform  the  last  sad  rites 


DEATH  VALLEY.  219 

there  instead  of  here  on  the  top  of  the  dismal 
mountain.  It  seemed  quite  like  a  grim  joke,  but  it 
produced  a  reaction  that  turned  the  tide  of  thoughts 
and  brought  more  courage.  We  only  laid  out  the 
march  for  this  day  as  far  as  the  falls  and  after  a  little 
prepared  to  move.  The  cattle  seemed  to  have  quit 
their  foolishness,  and  they  were  loaded  without 
trouble.  The  children  fitted  into  the  pockets  better 
than  usual,  and  the  mothers  with  full  canteens 
strapped  across  their  shoulders  picked  out  soft  places 
on  which  to  place  their  poor  blistered  feet  at  every 
step.  They  walked  as  if  they  were  troubled  with 
corns  on  every  toe  and  on  their  heels  into  the  bargain, 
and  each  foot  was  so  badly  affected,  that  they  did  not 
know  on  which  one  to  limp.  But  still  they  moved, 
and  we  were  once  more  on  our  way  westward. 
They  often  stopped  to  rest,  and  Arcane  waited  for 
them  with  Old  Crump,  while  they  breathed  and  com- 
plained awhile  and  then  passed  on  again. 

The  route  was  first  along  the  foot  of  the  high  peak, 
over  bare  rocks  and  we  soon  turned  south  somewhat 
so  as  to  enter  the  canon  leading  down  to  the  falls. 
The  bottom  of  this  was  thick  with  broken  rock,  and 
the  oxen  limped  and  picked  out  soft  places  about  as 
bad  as  the  women  did.  A  pair  of  mocassins  would 
not  last  long  in  such  rocks  and  we  hoped  to  get  out 
of  them  very  soon.  Rogers  and  I  hurried  along, 
assisting  Arcane  and  his  party  as  much  as  we  could, 
while  Bennett  staid  behind  and  assisted  the  women  as 
much  as  possible,  taking  their  arms,  and  by  this 
means  they  also  reached  camp  an  hour  behind  the 
rest. 

A  kettle  of  hot  steaming  soup,  and  blankets  all  spread 
out  on  which  to  rest,  was  the  work  Rogers  a  nd  I 
had  done  to  prepare  for  them,  and  they  sank  down  on 
the  beds  completely  exhausted.     The    children    cried 


220  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

some  but  were  soon  pacified  and  were  contented  to  lie 
still.  A  good  supper  of  hot  soup  made  them  feel 
much  better   all    around. 

The  first  thing  Bennett  and  Arcane  did  was  to  look 
round  and  see  the  situation  at  the  falls,  and  see  if  the 
obstacle  was  enough  to  stop  our  progress,  or  if  we 
must  turn  back  and  look  for  a  better  way.  They 
were  in  some  doubt  about  it,  but  concluded  to  try  and 
get  the  animals  over  rather  than  to  take  the  time  to 
seek  another  pass,  which  might  take  a  week  of  time. 
We  men  all  went  down  to  the  foot  of  the  fall,  and 
threw  out  all  the  large  rocks,  then  piled  up  all  the 
sand  we  could  scrape  together  with  the  shovel,  till 
we  had  quite  a  pile  of  material  that  would  tend  to  break 
a  fall.  We  arranged  everything  possible  for  a  forced 
passage  in  the  morning,  and  the  animals  found  a  few 
willows  to  browse  and  a  few  bunches  of  grass  here 
and  there,  which  gave  them  a  little  food,  while  the 
spring  supplied  them  with  enough  water  to  keep  them 
from  suffering   with  thirst. 

Early  in  the  morning  we  took  our  soup  hastily  and 
with  ropes  lowered  our  luggage  over  the  small  precipice, 
then  the  children,  and  finally  all  the  ropes  were 
combined  to  make  a  single  strong  one  about  thirty 
feet  long.  They  urged  one  of  the  oxen  up  to  the 
edge  of  the  falls,  put  the  rope  around  his  horns,  and 
threw  down  the  end  to  me,  whom  they  had  stationed 
below.  I  was  told  to  pull  hard  when  he  started  so 
that  he  might  not  light  on  his  head  and  break  his 
neck.  We  felt  this  was  a  desperate  undertaking,  and 
we  fully  expected  to  lose  some  of  our  animals,  but  our 
case  was  critical  and  we  must  take  some  chances. 
Bennett  stood  on  one  side  ot  the  ox,  and  Arcane  on  the 
other,  while  big  Rogers  was  placed  in  the  rear  to  give 
a  regular  Tennessee  boost  when  the  word  was  given. 
"Now  for  it, "  said  Bennett,  and  as  I  braced  out  on  the 


DEATH  VALLEY  221 

rope  those  above  gave  a  push  and  the  ox  came  over^ 
sprawling,  but  landed  safely,  cut  only  a  little  by 
some  angular  stones  in  the  sand  pile.  "Good 
enough, "  said  some  one  and  I  threw  the  rope  back 
for  another  ox.  "We'll  get  'em  all  over  safely"  said 
Arcane,  "if  Lewis  down  there,  will  keep  them  from 
getting  their  necks  broken. ' '  Lewis  pulled  hard  every 
time,  and  not  a  neck  was  broken.  The  sand  pile  was 
renewed  every  time  and  made  as  high  and  soft  as 
possible,  and  very  soon  all  our  animals  were  below 
the  falls.  The  little  mule  gave  a  jump  when  they 
pushed  her  and  lighted  squarely  on  her  feet  all  right. 
With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  slight  cuts,  which 
bled  some,  the  oxen  were  all  right  and  we  began 
loading  them  at  once. 

Bennett  and  Arcane  assisted  their  wives  down  along 
the  little   narrow   ledge  which  we  used  in  getting  up,, 
keeping  their  faces  toward  the  rocky  wall,  and  feeling 
carefully  for  every  footstep.     Thus  they  worked  along 
and    landed  safely   by    the    time  we  had  the  animals 
ready  for  a  march.     We  had  passed  without   disaster, 
the  obstacle  we   most    feared,    and    started    down  the 
rough  canon,  hope  revived,  and  we  felt  we  should  get 
through.     After    winding   around    among    the    great 
boulders     for   a  little    while   we    came    to   the     two 
horses  we  had  left  behind,  both  dead  and  near  together. 
We  pointed  to  the  carcasses,  and  told  them  those  were 
the  horses  we  brought  for  the  women  to  ride,  and  that 
is  the  way   they  were    cheated    out    of  their    passage^ 
The   bodies   of  the    animals  had  not  been  touched  by 
bird  or  beast.     The  canon  was   too  deep  and  dark  for 
either   wolves  or  buzzards  to  enter,  and  nothing  alive 
had  been  seen  by  us  in  the  shape  of  wild  game  of  any 
sort.      Firearms  were  useless  here  except    for   defence 
against  Indian?,  and  we  expected  no  real  trouble  from: 
them. 


222  DEATH  VALLEY. 

From  what  we  could  see,  ii  was  my  opinion  that  no 
general  rain  ever  fell  in  that  legion.  There  was 
some  evidence  that  water  had  at  times  flowed  down 
them  freely  after  cloud  bursts,  or  some  sudden  tempest, 
but  the  gravel  was  so  little  worn  that  it  gave  no 
evidence  of  much  of  a  stream. 

We  hurried  on  as  rapidly  as  possible  so  as  to  get 
into  the  Jayhawker's  beaten  trail  which  would  be  a 
little  easier  to  follow.  When  we  reached  the  lowest 
part  of  the  valley  we  had  to  turn  south  to  get  around 
a  little,  slow  running  stream  of  salt  water,  that  moved 
north  and  emptied  into  a  Salt  Lake.  No  source  of 
the  stream  could  be  seen  from  this  point,  but  when 
we  reached  a  point  where  we  could  cross,  we  had  a 
smooth,  hard  claj-  bed  to  march  over.  It  seemed  to 
have  been,  some  da}-,  a  bed  of  mortar,  but  now  baked 
hard,  and  the  hoofs  of  the  oxen  dented  into  it  no  more 
than  half  an  inch.  On  our  left  hand  was  a  per- 
pendicular cliff,  along  which  we  traveled  for  quite  a 
little  way.  The  range  of  mountains  now  before  us 
to  cross  was  black,  nothing  but  rocks,  and  extremely 
barren,  having  no  water  in  it  that  we  knew  of,  so 
when  we  reached  the  summit  we  camped,  tied  all  our 
animals  to  rocks,  where  they  lay  down  and  did  not 
rise  till  morning.  The  women  were  .so  tired  they 
were  over  two  hours  late,  and  we  had  the  fire  built, 
the  soup  cooked  and  the  beds  made.  As  we  did  not 
stop  at  noon  all  \a  ere  very  hungry,  and  ate  with  a 
relish.  The  poor  animals  had  to  go  without  either 
grass  or  water.  When  Old  Crump  and  the  party 
came  in  the  men  were  carrying  the  babies,  and  their 
wives  were  clinging  to  their  arms,  scarcely  able  to 
stand.  When  they  reached  the  beds  they  fell  at  full 
length  on  them,  saying  their  feet  and  limbs  ached  like 
the  tooth  ache.  It  .seemed  to  be  best  for  them  to  rest 
a   little   before   eating.      Mrs.    Bennett    said    that  the 


DEATH  VALLEY.  223 

only  consolation  was  that  the  road  was  getting  shorter 
every  day,  but  were  it  not  for  the  children  she  would 
sooner  die  than  follow  the  trail  any  farther.  Their 
soup  was  carried  to  them  in  the  bed,  and  they  were 
covered  up  as  they  lay,  and  slept  till  morning.  This 
day's  walk  was  the  hardest  one  yet,  and  probably  the 
longest  one  of  the  whole  journey,  but  there  was  no 
other  place  where  we  could  find  a  place  large  enough 
to  make  a  camp  and  free  enough  of  rocks  so  that  a 
bed  could  be  made. 

Rogers  and  I  had  thi^  kettle  boiling  early,  and  put 
in  the  last  of  the  meat,  and  nearly  all  that  was  left  of 
the  flour.  A^  the  next  camp  an  ox  must  be  killed. 
Just  as  it  was  fairly  light  I  went  about  200  yards  south 
where  the  dead  body  of  Mr.  Fish  lay,  just  as  he  died 
more  than  a  month  before.  The  body  had  not  been 
disturbed  and  looked  quite  natural.  He  was  from 
Oscaloosa,  Iowa. 

The  folks  arose  very  reluctantly  this  morning,  and 
appeared  with  swollen  eyes  and  uncombed  hair,  for 
there  was  no  means  of  making  a  toilet,  without  a 
drop  of  water,  except  what  we  had  used  in  getting 
breakfast.  We  set  the  soup  kettle  near  the  foot  of 
the  bed  so  the  women  could  feed  the  children  and 
themselves.  Now  as  we  loaded  the  oxen,  it  was 
agreed  that  Rogers  and  I  should  go  ahead  with  all 
but  Old  Crump,  and  get  in  camp  as  soon  as  possible, 
anc'  they  were  to  follow  on  as  best  they  could.  There 
was  a  little  water  left  in  the  canteens  of  Bennett  and 
Arcane,  to  be  given  only  to  the  children,  who  would 
cry  when  thirsty,  the  very  thing  to  make  them  feel 
the  worst. 

We  were  to  kill  an  ox  when  we  reached  camp,  and 
as  each  of  the  men  had  an  equal  number  on  the  start 
each  was  to  furnish  one  alternately  and  no  disputing 
about      whose     were    better     or   stronger,     in     any 


224  DEATH  VALLEY. 

emergency. 

Our  road  now  led  down  the  western  slope  of  the 
mountain,  and  loose,  hard,  broken  rocks  were  harder 
on  the  feet  of  our  animals  than  coming  up,  and  our 
own  mocassins  were  wearing  through.  The  cattle 
needed  shoes  as  well  as  we.  Any  one  who  has  never 
tried  it  can  imagine  how  hard  it  is  to  walk  with  tender 
feet  over  broken  rock.  It  was  very  slow  getting 
along  at  the  best,  and  the  oxen  stumbled  dreadfully 
in  trying  to  protect  their  sore  feet.  At  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  we  had  several  miles  of  soft  and  sandy  road. 
The  sun  shone  very  hot,  and  with  no  water  we 
suffered  fearfully.  A  short  wa}  out  in  the  sandy 
valley  we  pass  again  the  grave  of  Mr.  Isham,  where 
lie  had  been  buried  by  his  friends.  He  was  from 
Rochester,  N.  Y.  He  was  a  cheerful,  pleasant  man, 
and  during  the  forepart  of  the  journey  used  his 
fiddle  at  the  evening  camps  to  increase  the  merriment 
of  his  jolly  companions.  In  those  days  we  got  no 
rain,  see  no  living  animals  of  any  kind  except  those 
of  our  train,  see  not  a  bird  nor  insect,  see  nothing 
green  except  a  very  stunted  sage,  and  some  dwarf 
bushes.  We  now  know  that  the  winter  of  1849 — 50 
was  one  of  the  wettest  ever  seen  in  California,  but 
for  some  reason  or  other  none  of  the  wet  clouds  ever 
•came  to  this  portion  of  the  State  to  deposit  the  most 
scattering  drops  of  moisture. 

Quite  a  long  way  from  the  expected  camp  the  oxen 
snuffed  the  moisture,  and  began  to  hurry  towards  it 
-with  increased  speed.  A  little  while  before  it  did  not 
seem  as  if  they  had  ambition  enough  left  to  make  a 
quick  move,  but  as  we  approached  the  water  those 
which  had  no  packs  fairly  trotted  in  their  haste  to  get 
a  drink.  This  stream  was  a  very  small  one,  seeping 
out  from  a  great  pile  of  rocks, and  maintaining  itself 
till  it  reached  the  sands,  where    it    disappeared   com- 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  225 

pletely.  A  few  tufts  of  grass  grew  along  the  batiks, 
otherwise  everything  surrounding  was  desolate  in  the 
€  xtreme. 

As  soon  as  we  could  get  the  harness  off  the  oxen, 
we  went  to  look  for  our  little  buried  sack  of  wheat, 
which  we  were  compelled  to  leave  and  hide  on  our 
way  out.  We  had  hidden  it  so  completely,  that  it 
took  us  quite  a  little  while  to  strike  its  bed  but 
after  scratchi  ig  with  our  hands  awhile,  we  hit  the 
spot,  and  found  it  untouched.  Although  the  sand  in 
which  it  was  buried  seemed  quite  dr3^  yet  the  grain 
had  absorbed  so  much  moisture  from  it,  that  the  sack 
was  nearly  bursting.  It  was  emptied  on  a  blanket, 
and  proved  to  be  still  sound  and  sweet. 

Our  first  work  now  was  to  kill  an  ox  and  get  some 
meat  to  cook  for  those  who  were  coming  later.  We 
got  the  kettle  over  boiling  with  some  ofthe  wheatinit, 
for  the  beans  were  all  gone.  We  killed  the  ox  saving 
the  blood  to  cook.  Cutting  the  meat  all  off  the  bones, 
we  had  it  drying  over  a  fire  as  soon  as  possible,  ex 
cept  what  we  needed  for  this  meal  and  the  next. 
Then  we  made  a  smooth  place  in  the  soft  sand  on 
which  to  spread  the  blankets,  the  first  good  place  we 
had  found  to  sleep  since  leaving  Death  \'alley. 

The  next  job  was  to  make  mocassins  for  ourselves 
and  for  the  oxen,  for  it  was  plain  they  could  not  go 
on  another  day  barefooted.  We  kept  busy  indeed,  at- 
tending the  fires  under  the  meat  and  under  the  kettle, 
besides  our  shoemaking,  and  were  getting  along 
nicely  about  sundown,  when  Old  Christian  Crump  ap- 
peared in  sight  followed  by  the  women  and  the  rest  of 
the  party.  The  women  were  just  as  tired  as  ever  and 
dropped  down  on  the  blankets  the  first  thing.  "Hovr 
many  such  days  as  this  can  we  endure?" — they  said.  We 
had  them  count  the  days  gone  by,  and  look  around  to 
see  the    roughest    part    of    the  road  was  now  behind 


226  DEATH  VALLEY. 

them.  They  said  that  only  five  days  had  passed,  and  that 
two  thirds  of  the  distance  still  remained  untraveled, 
and  they  knew  they  could  never  endure  even  another 
five  day's  work  like  the  last.  We  told  them  to  be 
brave,  and  be  encouraged,  for  we  had  been  over  the 
road  and  knew  what  it  was,  and  that  we  felt  sure  of 
being  abl  e  to  do  it  nicely.  They  were  fed  in  bed  as 
usual,  and  there  they  lay  till  morning.  We  men 
went  to  making  mocassins  from  the  green  hide,  and 
when  we  had  cut  out  those  for  the  men  and  women 
the  balance  of  the  hide  was  used  in  preparing  some 
also  for  the  oxen,  particularly  the  worst  ones,  for  if  I 
remember  correctly  there  was  not  enough  to  go 
round. 

The  morning  came,  bright  and  pleasant,  as  all  of 
them  were,  and  just  warm  enough  for  comfort  in  the 
part  of  the  day.  The  women  were  as  usual,  and  their 
appearance  would  remind  one  quite  strongly  of  half- 
drowned  hens  which  had  not  been  long  out  of  trouble. 
Hair  snarled,  eyes  red,  nose  swollen,  and  out  of  fix 
generally.  They  did  not  sleep  well  so  much  fatigued, 
for  they  said  they  lived  over  their  hard  days  in  dreams 
at  night,  and  when  they  would  close  their  eyes  and 
try  to  go  to  sleep,  the  visions  would  seem  to  come  to 
them  half  waking  and  they  could  not  rest. 

There  was  now  before  us  a  particularly  bad  stretch 
of  the  country  as  it  would  probably  take  us  four  or 
five  days  to  get  over  it,  and  there  was  only  one  water 
jole  in  the  entire  distance.  This  one  was  quite  salt, 
so  much  so  that  on  our  return  trip  the  horses  refused 
to  drink  it,  and  the  little  white  one  died  next  day.  Only 
water  for  one  day's  camp  could  be  carried  with  us, 
and  that  was  for  ourselves  alone  and  not  for  the 
animals. 

When  the  mocassins  were  finished  in  the  morning 
we  began  to  get  our  cattle  together  when  it   was   dis- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  227 

covered  that  Old  Brigham  was  gone,  and  the  general 
belief  was  that  the  Indians  had  made  a  quiet  raid  on 
us  and  got  away  with  the  old  fellow.  We  circled 
around  till  we  found  his  track  and  then  Arcane 
followed  it  while  we  made  read}-  the  others.  Arcane 
came  in  with  the  stra\'  namesake  of  the  polygamous 
saint  about  tnis  time  shouting: — "I've  got  him — No 
Indians.  "  The  ox  had  got  into  the  wash  ravine  be- 
low camp  and  passed  out  of  sight  behind,  in  a  short 
time.  He  had  been  as  easily  tracked  as  if  he  walked 
in  snow.  There  was  larger  sage  brush  in  the  wash 
than  elsewhere,  and  no  doubt  Brigham  had  thought 
this  a  good  place  to  seek  for  some  extra  blades  of 
grass. 

Immediately  south  of  this  camp  now  known  as 
Providence  Springs,  is  the  salt  lake  to  which  Rogers 
and  I  went  on  the  first  trip  and  were  so  sadly  dis- 
appointed in  finding  the  water  unfit  to  use. 

As  soon  as  ready  we  started  up  the  canon,  follow- 
ing the  trail  made  by  the  Jayhawkers  who  had  pro- 
ceeded us,  and  by  night  had  reached  the  summit,  but 
passed  beyond,  a  short  distance  down  the  western 
slope,  where  we  camped  in  a  valley  that  gave  us 
good  large  sage  brush  for  our  fires,  and  quite  a  range 
for  the  oxen  without  their  getting  out  of  sight.  This 
being  at  quite  a  high  elevation  we  could  see  the  foot 
as  well  as  the  top,  of  the  great  snow  mountain,  and 
had  a  general  good  view  of  the  country. 

This  proved  to  be  the  easiest  day's  march  we  had 
experienced,  and  the  women  complained  less  than 
on  any  other  night  since  our  departure.  Their  path 
had  been  comparatively  smooth,  and  with  the  new 
mocassins  their  feet  had  been  well  protected,  they 
had  come  through  pretty  nicely.  We  told  them  they 
looked  better,  and  if  they  would  only  keep  up  good 
courage  they  would  succeed    and   come  out    all  right 


228  DEATH  VALLEY 

to  the  land  where  there  was  plenty  of  bread  a  nd  water, 
and  when  safely  out,  they  might  make  good  resolutions 
never  to  get  in  such  a  trap  again.  Mrs.  Bennett  said 
such  a  trip  could  never  be  done  over  again,  and  but 
for  the  fact  that  Rogers  and  I  had  been  over  the  road, 
and  that  she  believed  all  we  had  said  about  it ;  she 
never  would  have  had  the  courage  to  come  thus  far. 
Now,  for  the  children's  sake,  she  wished  to  live,  and 
would  put  forth  any  effort  to  come  through  all 
right. 

The  next  day  we  had  a  long  cailon  to  go  down,  and 
in  it  passed  the  dead  body  of  the  beautiful  white  mare 
Rogers  had  taken  such  a  fancy  to.  The  body  had  not 
decomposed,  nor  had  it  been  disturbed  by  any 
bird  or  beast.  Below  this  point  the  bed  of  the  canon 
was  filled  with  great  boulders,  over  which  it  was  very 
difficult  to  get  the  oxen  along.  Some  of  them  had 
lost  their  mocassins  and  had  to  suffer  terribly  over  the 
rocks. 

Camp  was  made  at  the  salt  water  hole,  and  our 
wheat  and  meat  boiled  in  it  did  not  soften  and  get 
tender  as  it  did  in  fresh  water.  There  was  plenty  of 
salt  grass  above;  but  the  oxen  did  not  eat  it  any 
more  than  the  horses  did,  and  wandered  around 
cropping  a  bite  of  the  bitter  brush  once  in  awhile,  and 
looking  very  sorry.  This  was  near  the  place  where 
Rogers  and  I  found  the  piece  of  ice  which  saved  our 
lives.  The  women  did  not  seriously  complain  when 
we  reached  this  camp,  but  little  Charley  Arcane  broke 
out  with  a  bad  looking  rash  all  over  his  body  and  as 
he  cried  most  of  the  time  it  no  doubt  smarted  and 
pained  him  like  a  mild  burn.  Neither  his  mother  nor 
any  one  else  could  do  anything  for  him  to  give  him 
any  relief.  We  had  no  medicines,  and  if  he  or  any 
one  should  die,  all  we  could  do  would  be  to  roll  the 
body  in  a  blanket  and  cover  it  with  a    light    covering 


DEATH  VALLEY.  '         229 

of  sand. 

From  this  camp  to  the  next  water  holes  at  the  base 
of  the  great  snow  momitain,  it  was  at  least  30  miles, 
level  as  to  surface,  and  with  a  light  ascending  grade. 
The  Jayhawkers  had  made  a  well  marked  trail,  and  it 
it  was  quite  good  walking.  The  next  camp  was  a  dry- 
one,  both  for  ourselves  and  the  oxen,  nothing  but  dry 
brush  for  them,  and  a  little  dried  meat  for  ourselves, 
but  for  all  this  the  women  did  not  complain  so  very 
much.  They  were  getting  use  to  the  work  and  grew 
stronger  with  the  exercise.  They  had  followed  Old 
Crump  and  the  children  every  day  with  the  canteens 
of  Vv-ater  and  a  little  dried  meat  to  give  them  if  they 
cried  too  much  with  hunger,  and  Arcane  had  led  his 
ox  day  after  day  with  a  patience  that  was  remarkable, 
and  there  was  no  bad  temper  shown  by  any  one. 
This  was  the  way  to  do,  for  if  there  were  any 
diiFerencse,    there  was  no  tribunal  to    settle  them  by. 

In  all  this  desert  travel  I  did  not  hear  any 
discontent  and  serious  complaint,  -except  iu 
one  case,  and  that  was  at  the  Jayhawker's  camp, 
where  they  burned  their  wagons  at  the  end  of  the 
wagon  road,  in  Death  Valley.  Some  could  not  say 
words  bad  enough  to  express  their  contempt,  and  laid 
all  the  trouble  of  salt  water  to  Lot's  wife.  Perhaps 
•>he  was  in  a  better  position  to  stand  the  cursing  than 
any  of  the  party  present. 

The  next  day  we  reached  the  water  holes  at  the 
place  where  Rogers  and  I  stole  up  to  camp  fire  in  the 
evening,  supposing  it  to  be  Indians,  but  finding  there 
Capt.  Doty  and  his  mess,  a  part  of  the  Jayhawker's 
band.  By  dipping  carefully  from  these  holes  they 
filled  again,  and  thus,  although  there  was  no  flow 
from  them  we  gradually  secured  what  water  we 
needed  for  the  camp,  which  was  a  small  amount  after 
so  long  a  time  without.     There  was   some  low  brush 


230  DEATH  VALLEY. 

here  called  greasewood,  which  grew  about  as  high  as 
currant  bushes,  and  some  distance  up  the  mountain 
the  oxen  could  find  some  scattery  bunch  grass,  which, 
on  the  whole,  made  this  camp  a  pretty  good  one. 
The  women,  however,  were  pretty  nearly  exhausted, 
and  little  Charley  Arcane  cried  bitterly  all  day  and 
almost  all  night.  All  began  to  talk  more  and  feel  more 
hopeful  of  getting  through.  The  women  began  to 
say  that  everj^  step  brought  them  so  much  nearer  to 
the  house  we  had  told  them  about  on  the  other  side 
and  often  sa'd  the  work  was  not  so  very  hard  after 
all.  Really  it  was  not  so  bad  travelling  as  we  had  at 
first.  We  were  now  nine  days  from  the  wagons. 
"Are  we  half  way?"  was  the  question  they  began  to 
ask.  We  had  to  answer  them  that  more  than  one 
half  the  hard  days  were  over,  if  one  half  the  distance 
had  not  been  traveled,  and  with  the  better  walking 
and  getting  hardened  to  the  work,  they  would  get 
over  the  last  half  better  than  the  first.  One  thing 
was  a  little  hard.  All  of  our  beans  and  flour  had 
been  used  up,  and  now  the  wheat  was  about  gone 
also.  We  had  cooked  it,  and  it  seemed  best,  trying 
to  build  up  our  strength,  where  it  was  most  needed 
for  the  greatest  trials,  and  now  we  thought  they  would 
be  able  to  get  along  on  the  meat.  We  had  reached 
the  base  of  the  gre  at  snow  mountain.  It  seems  strange 
with  the  mass  of  snow  resting  above,  and  which  must 
be  continuall}^  thawing  more  or  less,  no  ravines  or 
large  streams  of  water  were  produced  flowing  down 
this  side.  It  seemed  dry  all  around  its  base,  which  is 
is  ver)^  singular,  with  the  snow  so  near. 
.  We  had  now  our  barren  canon  to  go  down,  and  right 
here  was  the  big  trail  coming  down  from  the  north, 
which  we  took  and  followed.  We  said  all  these  good 
things  about  the  road,  and  encouraged  the  people  all 
we  could  to  keep  in  good  spirits    and    keep    moving. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  231 

We  told  them  we  thought  we  knew  how  to  mauage 
to  get  them  safe  over  the  road  if  they  only  fully  en- 
deavored to  do  it.  We  were  all  quite  young,  and  not 
in  the  decline  of  life  as  were  most  of  them  who  had 
perished  by  the  way.  No  reader  can  fully  realize 
how  much  we  had  to  say  and  do  to  keep  up  courage, 
and  it  is  to  this  more  than  anything  else  that  we  did 
which  kept  up  the  lagging  energies  and  inspired  the 
best  exertion.  I  don't  know  but  we  painted  some 
things  a  little  brighter  than  they  were,  and  tried  to 
hide  some  of  the  most  disheartening  points  of  the 
prospects  ahead,  for  we  found  the  mind  had  most  to 
do  with  it  after  all.  We  have  no  doubt  that  if  we 
had  not  done  all  we  could  to  keep  up  good  courage, 
the  women  would  have  pined  away  and  died  before 
reaching  this  far.  Whenever  we  stopped  talking 
encouragingly,  they  seemed  to  get  melancholy  and 
blue. 

There  was  some  pretty  good  management  to  be  ex- 
ercised still.  The  oxen  were  gradually  growing 
weaker,  and  we  had  to  kill  the  weakest  one  every 
time,  for  if  the  transportation  of  our  food  failed,  we 
should  yet  be  open  to  the  danger  of  starvation.  As 
it  was,  the  meat  on  their  frames  was  very  scarce,  and 
we  had  to  use  the  greatest  economy  to  make  it  last 
and  waste  nothing.  We  should  now  have  to  kill  one 
of  our  oxen  every  few  days,  as  our  other  means  of 
subsistance  had  been  so  completely  used  up.  The 
women  contracted  a  strange  dislike  to  this  region  and 
said  they  nevcx  wanted  to  see  any  part  of  it  again. 
As  the  sun  showed  its  face  over  the  great  sea  of 
mountains  away  to  the  east  of  Death  Valley,  and  it 
seemed  to  rise  very  early  for  winter  season  we  packed 
up  and  started  w  est  on  the  big  trail.  Rogers  and  I 
took  the  oxen  and  mule  and  went  on,  leaving  the 
others  to  accompan}'  Old  Crump  and  his  little  charges. 


232  DEATH  VALLEY. 

Arcane  had  found  it  best  to  carry  Charley  on  his  back, 
as  it  relieved  the  burning  sensation,  caused  by  the 
eruption  on  his  skin,  which  was  aggravated  by  the 
close  quarters  of  the  pockets.  Thus  leaving  the  pockets 
unbalanced,  Bennett  had  to  carry  his  baby  also. 
This  made  it  harder  for  them,  but  every  one  tried  to 
be  just  as  accommodating  as  they  could  and  each  one 
would  put  himself  to  trouble  to  accommodate  or  re- 
lieve others. 

Rogers  and  I  made  camp  when  we  reached  the 
proper  place  which  was  some  distance  from  the 
mountain,  on  a  perfectly  level  plain  where  there  was 
no  water,  no  grass,  nothing  but  sage  brush  would 
grow  on  the  dry  and  worthless  soil.  We  let  the  oxen 
go  and  eat  as  much  of  this  as  they  chose,  which  was 
very  little  and  only  enough  to  keep  them  from 
absolute  starvation.  The  great  trail  had  a  branch 
near  here  that  turned  north,  and  went  up  a  ravine 
that  would  seem  to  reach  the  snow  in  a  little  while. 
This  was  believed  to  be  impassable  at  this  time  of 
year.  This  route  is  known  as  Walker's  Pasb, 
leading  over  a  comparatively  low  ridge,  and  coming  out 
the  south  fork  of  the  Kern  River. 

\  We  made  our  camp  here  because  it  was  as  long  a 
march  as  the  women  could  make,  and,  for  a  dry  one, 
was  as  good  a  location  as  we  could  find.  The  cool 
breeze  came  down  from  the  snow  to  the  north  of  us, 
not  so  very  many  miles  away,  and  after  a  little  it  be- 
came uncomfortably  cold.  We  gathered  greasewood 
bushes  and  piled  them  up  to  make  a  wind-break  for 
our  heads.  TThe  oxen,  even,  would  come  and  stand 
around  the  fire,  seeming  greatly  to  enjoy  the  warm 
smoke,  which  came  from  burning  the  greasewood 
brush,  which  by  the  way,  burns  about  the  best  of  any 
green  wood.  When  we  were  readj^  to  lie  down  we 
tied  the  animals  to  bunches    of    brush,    and  they  lay 


DEATH  VAI.I.EY.  233 

contentedly  till    morning. 

To  the  north  of  us,  a  few  miles  away  we  could  see 
some  standing,  columns  of  rock,  much  reminding  one 
of  the  great  stone  chimney  of  the  boiler  house  at 
Stanford  J-.,  University;  not  quite  so  trim  and 
regular  in  exterior  appearance,  but  something  in 
that  order.  We  reckon  the  only  students  in  the 
vicinity  would  be  lizards. 

When  the  women  arrived  in  camp  they  were  very 
tired,  but  encouraged  themselves  that  they  were 
much  nearer  the  promised  land  than  they  were  in  the 
morning.  Mrs.  Bennett  said  she  was  very  careful 
never  to  take  a  step  backward,  and  to  make  every 
forward  one  count  as  much  as  possible.  "That's  a 
good  resolution,  Sally,"  said  Mr  Bennett.  "Stick  to 
it  and  we  will  come  out  by  and    bye. " 

From  near  this  camp  we  have  a  low  range  of 
mountains  to  cross,  a  sort  of  spur  or  offshoot  of  the 
great  snow  mountain  that  reaches  out  twent>  miles 
or  more  to  the  southeast'  and  its  extremity  divides 
away  into  what  seems  from  our  point  of  view  a  level 
plain.  We  had  attained  quite  an  elevation  without 
realizing  it,  so  gradual  had  been  the  ascent,  and  our 
course  was  now  down  a  steep  hillside  and  into  a  deep 
cafion.  In  its  very  bottom  we  found  a  small  stream  of 
water  only  a  few  yards  long,  and  then  it  sank  into 
the  sands.  Not  a  spear  of  grass  grew  there,  and  if 
any  had  grown  it  had  been  eaten  by  the  cattle  which 
had  gone  before.  This  was  the  same  place,  where 
Rogers  and  I  had  overtaken  the  advance  portion  of 
the  Jayhawkers  when  we  were  on  our  outward  trip 
in  search  of  relief,  and  where  some  of  the  older  men 
were  so  discouraged  that  they  gave  us  their  home 
adresses  in  Illinois  so  that  we  could  notify  their 
friends  of  their  precarious  situation,  and  if  they  were 
never  otherwise  heard  from  they  could  be  pretty  sure 


234  DEATH  VAI,IvEY. 

they  had  perished  from  thirst  and  starvation  when 
almost  at  their  journe3^'s  end. 

The  scenes  of  this  camp  on  that  occasion  made  so 
strong  an  impression  on  my  memory  that  I  can  never 
forget  it.  There  were  poor  dependent  fellows  without 
a  morsel  to  eat  except  such  bits  of  poor  meat  as  they 
could  beg  from  those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to 
own  oxen.  Their  tearful  pleadings  would  soften  a 
heart  of  stone.  We  shared  with  some  of  them  even 
when  we  did  not  know  the  little  store  upon  our  backs 
would  last  us  through.  Our  oxen  here  had  water  to 
drink,  but  nothing  more.  It  might  be  a  little  more 
comfortable  to  drink  and  starve,  than  both  choke  and 
starve,  but  these  are  no  ver}'  pleasant  prospects  in 
either  one. 

Both  ourselves  and  the  oxen  were  getting  barefoot 
and  our  feet  very  tender.  The  hill  we  had  just  come 
down  was  ver}^  rough  and  rocky  and  our  progress  very 
slow,  every  step  made  in  a  selected  spot.  We  could 
not  stop  here  to  kill  an  ox  and  let  the  remainder  of 
them  starve,  but  nrust  push  on  to  where  the  living 
ones  could  get  a  little  food.  We  fastened  the  oxen 
and  the  mule  to  keep  them  from  wandering,  and 
slept  as  best  we  could.  The  women  and  children 
looked  worse  than  tor  some  time,  and  could  not  help 
complaining.  One  of  the  women  held  up  her  foot  and 
the  sole  was  bare  and  blistered.  She  said  the}-  ached 
like  toothache.  The  women  had  left  their  combs  in 
the  wagons,  and  their  hair  was  getting  seriously  tangled. 
Their  dresses  were  getting  worn  off  pretty  nearly  to 
their  knees,  and  showed  the  contact  with  the  ground 
that  sometimes  could  not  be  avoided.  They  were  in 
a  sad  condition  so  far  as  toilet  and  raiment  were  con- 
cerned. Life  waf  in  the  balance,  however,  and 
instead  of  talking  over  sad  things,  we  talked  of  the 
time  when  we  would  reach  the   little    babbling  brook' 


DEATH  VALI.KY.  235 

where  Rogers  and  I  took  such  long  draughts  of  clear, 
sweet  water  and  the  waiter  at  our  dinner  gave  us  the 
choice  of  Cxoiu,  Haivk  or  Quail,  and  where  we  took  a 
little  of  all  th;  se. 

In  the  morning  we  were  off  again  down  the  canon, 
limping  some  as  we  trod  its  coarse  gravelly  bed  with 
our  tender  feet  and  stiffened  joints,  but  getting 
limbered  up  a  little  after  a  bit,  and  enduring  it  pretty 
well.  We  set  out  to  try  to  reach  the  bunch  of  willows 
out  on  the  level  plain,  where  the  cattle  could  get  some 
water  and  grass,  but  night  overtook  us  at  the  mouth 
of  the  canon,  and  we  were  forced  to  go  into  camp. 
This  canon  is  now  called  Red  Caiion.  This  was  on 
an  elevated  plain,  with  a  lake  near  by,  but  as  we  had 
been  so  often  deceived  by  going  to  the  lake  for  water, 
and  finding  them  salt  in  every  instance,  or  poison  on 
account  of  strong  alkali,  we  did  not  take  the 
trouble  to  go  and  try    this  one. 

Near  us  was  some  coarse  grass  and  wet  ground 
where  we  found  water  enough  for  our  moderate  use, 
and  the  oxen,  by  perseverance,  could  get  something 
to  eat  and  drink.  After  supper  we  were  out  of  meat 
and  we  would  have  to  kill  an  ox  to  get  some  food  for 
breakfast.  In  the  night  a  storm  came  on,  much  to 
our  surprise,  for  we  had  seen  none  since  the  night  on 
the  mountain  east  of  Death  Valley  more  than  two 
months  before.  We  tried  to  fix  up  a  shelter  to  pro- 
tect the  children  an'',  ourselves,  but  were  not  very 
successful.  We  tried  to  use  our  guns  for  tent  poles, 
but  could  not  keep  them  in  place.  We  laid  down  as 
close  as  pigs  in  cold  weater,  and  covered  up  as  best 
we  could,  but  did  not  keep  dry,  and  morning  found 
us  wet  to  the  skin,  cold  and  shivering.  We  gathered 
big  sage  brush  for  a  fire  in  the  morning,  and  the 
tracks  of  our  nearly  bare  feet  could  be  plainly  !?een  in 
the  sncw  which  lay  like  a    blanket    awhile    over  the 


236  DEATH  VALIvKY. 

ground,  about  two  inches  deep.  Some  lay  in  bed  and 
we  warmtd  blankets  before  the  fire  and  put  over 
them  to  keep  them  comfortable  till  the  sun  should  rise 
and  w^arm  the  air.  We  selected  an  ox  and  brought 
him  up  before  the  fire  where  I  shot  him,  and  soon 
there  was  meat  roasting  over  the  fire  and  blood 
cooking  in  the  camp  kettle.  We  had  nothing  to 
season  the  blood  pudding  with  but  salt,  and  it  was 
not  very  good,  but  answ^ered  to  sustain  life.  We  ate 
a  hasty  meal,  then  packed  our  animals  and  started  for 
the  willow  patch  about  four  miles  away.  The  snow 
was  about  gone. 

I  staid  in  camp  to  keep  it  till  they  could  get  through 
to  the  willows  and  some  one  to  come  back  with  the  mule 
to  carry  forward  the  portion  of  meat  that  could  not  be 
taken  at  first.  We  intended  to  dry  it  at  the  wallows, 
and  then  we  could  carry  it  along  as  daily  food  over 
the  wide  plain  we  had  yet  to  cross.  Having  carried 
the  meat  forward,  we  made  a  rack  of  willows  and 
dried  it  over  the  fire,  making  up  a  lot  of  mocassins  for 
the  barefooted  ones  while  we  waited.  We  were  over 
most  of  the  rocky  road,  we  calculated  that  our  shoe- 
making  would  last  us  through.  This  was  a  very 
pleasant  camp.  The  tired  ones  were  taking  a  rest. 
No  one  needed  it  more  than  our  women  and  children, 
who  were  tired  nearh'  out.  They  were  in  much 
better  condition  to  endure  their  daily  hardships  than 
when  they  started  out,  and  a  little  rest  would  make 
chem  feel  quite  fresh  again.  The}-  understood  that 
this  was  almost  on  the  western  edge  of  this  desert 
country  and  this  gave  them  good  hope  and  courage. 
This  w^onderful  spot  in  the  level  plain,  with  a 
spring  of  pure  water  making  an  oasis  of  green  willows 
and  grass  has  been  previously  spoken  of  as: — "A 
spring  of  good  water,  and  a  little  willow^  patch  in  a 
level  desert  away  from  any  hill. "     In  all  our  wander- 


DEATH  VALLEY,  237 

ings  we  had  never  seen  the  like  before.  No 
mountaineer  v  ould  ever  think  of  looking  here  for 
water,  much  less  ever  dream  of  finding  a  lone  spring 
awa}'  out  in  the  desert,  several  miles  from  the 
mountain's  base.  Where  the  range  we  just  came 
throvigh  leaves  the  mother  mountain  stands  a  peak, 
seemingly  alone,  and  built  up  of  many  colored  rocks, 
in  belts,  and  the  whole  looks  as  if  tipped  with  steel. 
Arcane 's  boy  Charley  still  suffered  from  his  bogus 
measles  or  whatever  else  his  disorder  might  be,  and 
Bennett's  little  Martha  grew  more  quiet  and  improved 
considerably  in  health,  though  still  unable  to  walk, 
and  still  abdominally  corpulent.  The  other  two 
children  George  and  Melissa  seemed  to  bear  up  well 
and  loved  to  get  off  and  walk  in  places  where  the  trail 
was  smooth  and  level.  Bennett,  Arcane  and  Old 
Crump  usually  traveled  with  the  same  party  as  the 
women,  and  as  each  of  them  had  a  small  canteen  to 
carry  water,  they  could  attend  to  the  wants  of  the 
children  and  keep  them  from  worrying  and  getting 
sick  from  fretfulness.  They  often  carried  the  twO' 
younger  ones  on  their  backs  to  relieve  and  rest  them 
from  their  cramped  position  on  the  ox. 

Arcane  used  to  say  he  expected  the  boys — 
meaning  Rogers  and  I — would  try  to  surprise  the 
party  by  letting  them  get  very  near  the  house  be- 
fore they  knew  how  near  they  were  "Be  patient 
Mr.  Arcane,  "  said  we,  we  can  tell  you  just  how  many 
camps  there  must  be  before  we  reach  it,  and  we 
won't  fool  3^ou  or  surprise  3-0U  in  any  way.  "Well," 
said  he.  "I  was  almost  in  hopes  you  would,  fori 
like  to  be  disappointed  in  that  way.  "  "What  do  you 
think  the  folks  will  say  when,  we  tell  them  that  our 
little  mule  packed  most  of  the  meat  of  an  ox  four 
miles  from  one  camp  to  another?"  "What  will  they 
say  when  we  tell    them    that    the   oxen   were  so  poor 


238  DEATH  VALLEY. 

that  there  was  no  marrow  in  the  great  thigh  bones?" 
Instead  of  marrow  there  was  a  thick  dark  liquid  some- 
thing like  molasses  in  consistency,  but  streaked  with 
different  colors  which  made  it  look  very  unwholesome. 
Arcane  said  the  whole  story  was  so  incredible,  that 
he  never  should  fight  anyone,  even  if  he  should  tell 
him  he  lied  when  he  related  the  strange  sad  truth. 
He  said  he  had  no  doubt  many  a  one  would  doubt 
their  story,  it  was  so  much  beyond  what  people  had 
ever  seen  or  heard  of  before,  and  they  might  be  ac- 
cused of  very  strong  romancing  in  the  matter. 

They  all  felt  more  like  talking;  for  we  were  thus 
far  safe  and  sound,  and  though  there  was  a  desperate 
struggle  of  seventy-five  miles  or  more,  from  this  place 
to  the  next  water  in  the  foot-hills.  Possibly  the 
snow  storms  had  left  a  little  in  some  of  the  pools,  but 
we  made  no  calculations  on  any,  The  promised 
land  w^e  had  so  steadily  been  approaching,  and  now 
comparatively  so  near,  gave  us  great  hope,  which  was 
better    than    food    and    drink    to   give  us  strength. 

There  were  surely  two  camps  between  this  and  the 
little  pond  John  and  I  found,  among  the  Cabbage 
trees,  and  not  more  than  six  b^^  ten  feet  square.  As 
we  worked  awaj'  at  our  foot-wear  we  talked  more  in 
an  hour  than  we  had  in  a  whole  day  before.  We 
were  slowly  leaving  Death  Valley  behind  us  with  its 
sad  memories  and  sufferings.  We  were  leaving 
behind  the  dead  bodies  of  several  who  had  traveled 
with  us  and  been  just  as  strong  and  hopeful  as  we. 
AVe  had  left  behind  us  all  in  our  possession  in  that 
terrible  spot,  and  simply  with  our  lives  we  hoped  to 
escape,  and  trust  to  Providence  and  humanity  on  the 
other  side.  Arcane  now  admitted  that  they  .could  not 
have  got  along  half  as  well,  if  we  had  not  gone  ahead 
and  looked  out  the  land.  It  was  such  a  gain  to 
know  exactly  where   the  next  water   hole   was,    so  it 


DEATH  VALLEY.  239 

could  be  steered  for  and  struggled  toward.  He  even 
went  so  far  as  lo  say  they  would  have  no  chance 
alone,  and  that  as  he  now  saw  the  road,  he  was  sure  they 
have  would  all  perished  even  before  reaching  as  far  as 
this.  We  had  strong  hopes  of  the  morrow,  when  we 
would  be  all  rested,  all  were  shod,  and  would  make 
every  footstep  count  in  our  western  progress. 

It  seems  quite  a  strange  occurrence  that  the  only 
two  storms  we  had  had  since  we  turned  westward  on  this 
route,  Nov.  4th,  were  snow  storms,  and  that  both  had 
come  while  we  were  asleep,  so  that  all  our  days 
were  cloudless.  Sometimes  the  sun  was  uncomfort- 
ably warm  even  in  the  heart  of  the  winter.  One  would 
have  naturally  expected  that  the  great  rainfall  all  over 
the  California  coast  in  the  winter  of  I849 — 50,  and  the 
deep  snows  that  came  in  the  Sierra  Nevada 
mountains  the  same  winter,  would  have  extended 
southerly  the  few  hundred  miles  that  separated  the 
two  places.  Modern  science  has  shown  the  tracks  of 
the  storms  and  partially  explains  the  reasors  for  this 
dry  and  barren  nature  of  this  region.  When  rains  do 
come  they  are  so  out  of  the  regular  order,  that  they 
are  called  cloud-bursts  or  waterspouts,  and  the  washes 
in  the  canons  and  their  mouths  show  how  great  has 
been  the  volume  of  water  that  sometimes  rushed  down 
the  slope.  If  clouds  at  a  warm  or  moderate  temper- 
ature float  against  these  snow  peaks  all  the  water  they 
contain  is  suddenly  precipitated.  The  country  is  an 
arid  one  and  unless  wealth  should  appear  in  the  shape 
of  mines,  the  country  can  never  be  inhabited.  We 
considered  ourselves  very  fortunate  in  finding  the 
little  pools  and  holes  of  water  which  kept  us  alive. 
It  was  not  very  good  drinking  water,  but  to  us 
thirsty  for.:s  it  was  a  blessing  and  we  never  passed  it 
by  on  account  of  any  little  stagnent  bitter  taste. 
Salt  water  we  could  not    drink  of    course,   though  we 


240  DEATH  VALLEY. 

:sometimes  used  it  to  cook  with. 

We  were  as  well  prepared  next  morning  as  possible 
for  a  move,  and  the  long  walk  before  us,  the  last  one 
between  us  and  the  fertile  land.  They  all  talked  of 
how  delighted  they  would  be  to  see  once  more  a 
running  brook,  green  grass  and  trees,  and  such  signs 
of  life  as  they  had  seen  and  been  used  to  in  the  good 
land  they  had  left  behind.  The  women  said  they 
could  endure  the  march  of  four  or  five  days,  if  when 
all  over,  they  could  sleep  oflF  the  terrible  fatigue  and 
for  once  drink  all  the  pure  sweet  water  they  could 
desire.  No  more  forced  marches.  No  more  grey 
road,  stretching  out  its  dusty  miles  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach.  The  ladies  thought  the  oxen  would  be 
as  happy  as  themselves,  and  the  little  mule,  the  most 
patient  one  of  the  whole  train  deserved  a  life  of  ease 
for  her  valuable  services.  This  little  black,  one-eyed 
lady  wandered  here  and  there  at  will  seeking  for 
grass,  but  never  going  astray  or  getting  far  enough 
from  the  track  to  alarm  us  in  the  least.  She  seldom 
drank  much  water,  was  always  ready,  never  got  foot- 
sore, and  seemed  made  expressly  for  such  a  life  and 
for  such  a  desert. 

A  good  kettlefiil  of  soup  for  breakfast,  dried  meat 
fixed  in  packages,  kegs  and  canteens  filled  with  water, 
and  we  were  ready  for  an  advance. 

There  is  one  less  ox  to  lead,  and  ver}^  little  load  for 
those  we  have,  still  the  load  is  all  such  poor  weak 
fellows  ought  to  bear.  Old  Crump  was  not  thus 
favored  by  a  gradually  lightened  load.  He  bore 
the  same  four  children  every  day,  faithfully,  carefully, 
with  never  a  stumble  nor  fall,  as  though  fully  aware 
of  the  precious  nature  of  his  burden. 

In  this  new  march  John  and  1  took  the  oxen  and 
pushed  on  as  usual,  leaving  the  families  to  follow  on, 
at  a  slower  pace,  the  trail  we  made.     The    trail    was 


DEATH  VALLEY.  241 

slightly  inclined.  The  bushes  stunted  at  the  best, 
getting  smaller  as  we  proceeded,  and  the  horse  bones, 
new  and  ancient  are  now  thickly  scattered  along  the 
way.  The  soil  is  different  from  that  we  have  had. 
We  can  see  the  trail,  winding  gently  here  and  there, 
swept  clean  by  the  wind,  and  the  surface  is  hard  and 
good;  but  when  the  mule  gets  the  least  bit  off  of  it 
she  sinks  six  inches  deep  into  the  soft  sand,  and  the 
labor  of  walking  is  immense.  I  stepped  out  to  examine 
the  peculiar  soil,  and  found  it  finer  than  superfine 
flour  It  was  evident  that  a  strong  wind  would  lift  it 
in  vast  clouds  which  might  even  darken  the  sky,  but 
we  were  fortunate  in  this  respect,  for  during  all  the 
time  we  were  on  this  peculiar  soil,  there  was  no  wind 
at  all,  and  we  escaped  a  sand-storm,  a  sort  of  storm 
as  peculiar  to  this  region  as  are  blizzards  to  some  of 
the  states  of  the  great  west. 

Our  first  night's  camp  was  out  on  the  barren  water- 
less plain,  now  known  as  the  Mojave  Desert.  There 
were  no  shrubs  large  enough  to  make  a  fire  of,  and 
nothing  to  tie  our  cattle  to,  so  we  fastened  all  our 
animals  together  to  keep  them  from  scattering  and 
getting  lost.  We  ate  a  little  dry  meat  and  drank 
sparingly  of  the  water,  for  our  scant}-  stock  was  to  last 
us  another  day,  when  we  might  reach  prospective 
water  holes.  vStarting  early,  John  and  I  took  all 
but  Old  Crump  and  the  other  travelers,  and  hurried 
on  to  try  and  find  the  water  holes  as  early  as  possible. 
We,  as  well  as  the  oxen  were  very  dry,  for  we  left 
all  the  water  we  had  with  the  party,  for  the  children, 
for  they  cannot  endure  the  thirst  as  the  older  people 
can.  We  reached  the  camping  plav-e  before  night. 
Quite  a  time  before  we  reached  it,  the  cattle  seemed 
to  scent  the  water  and  quickened  their  pace,  so  we 
were  confident  it  had  not  dried  up.  We  got  ahead  of 
the  oxen  and  kept  there    until      we  reached  the  little 


242  DEATH  VALLEY. 

pond  and  then  guarded  it  to  keep  them  from  wading- 
into  it,  in  their  eagerness  to  reach  some  drink. 
They  all  satisfied  their  thirst,  and  then  we  rejioved 
the  harness,  built  a  fire  of  the  dead  cabbage  trees 
which  we  found  round  about,  laid  down  the  beds  and 
arranged  them  neatly,  and  had  all  nicely  done  before 
the  rear  guard  came  up,  in  charge  of  Captain  Crump. 
The  party  was  eager  for  water  and  all  secured  it. 
It  was  rain  water  and  no  doubt  did  not  quench  thirst 
as  readily  as  water  from  some  living  spring  or  brook. 
There  was  evidence  that  there  had  been  a  recent 
shower  or  snow  to  fill  this  depression  up  for  our 
benefit.  The  Jayhawkers  had  passed  not  more  than 
a  half  mile  north  of  this  spot,  but  no  sign  appeared 
that  they  had  found  it.  and  it  was  left  to  sustain  the 
lives  of  the  women  and  children. 

It  often  occurs  to  me  that  many  may  read  incredul- 
ously when  I  speak  of  our  party  eating  the  entire 
flesh  of  an  ox  in  four  or  five  days.  To  such  I  will  say 
that  one  cannot  form  an  idea  how  poor  an  ox  will  get 
when  nearly  starved  so  long.  Months  had  passed 
since  they  had  eaten  a  stomachful  of  good  nutritous 
food.  The  animals  walked  slowly  with  heads  down 
nearly  tripping  themselves  up  with  their  long, 
swinging  legs.  The  skin  loosely  covered  the  bones, 
but  all  the  flesh  and  muscles  had  shrunk  down  to  the 
smallest  space.  The  meat  was  tough  and  stringy  as 
basswood  bark,  and  tasted  strongly  of  bitter  sage 
brush  the  cattle  had  eaten  at  almost  every  camp.  At 
a  dry  camp  the  oxen  would  lie  down  and  grate  their 
teeth,  but  they  had  no  cud  to  chew.  It  looked  almost 
merciless  to  shoot  one  down  for  food,  but  there  was 
•■no  alternative.  We  killed  our  poor  brute  servants 
o  save  ourselves.  Our  cattle  found  a  few  bunches 
out  among  the  trees  at  this  camp  and  looked  some 
better  in  the    morning.     They  had  secured   plenty  of 


DEATH  VALLEY.  245 

water  and  some  grass. 

Young  Charlie  Arcane  seemed  to  grow  worse  rather 
than  better.  His  whole  body  was  red  as  fire,  and  he 
screamed  with  the  pain  and  torment  of  the  severe 
itching.  Nothing  could  be  done  to  relieve  him,  and 
if  his  strength  lasted  till  we  could  get  better  air,  water 
and  food  he  might  recover,  but  his  chances  were  very 
poor. 

Not  much    rest  at  this   camp  for  in  the  morning  we 
aimed  to  start  early  and  reach  the  water   in    the  foot- 
hills.    We  thought  we  could  do  it  if  we  started  early, 
walked    rapidly    and    took    no   resting  spell  at  noon. 
Such  a  poor  soil  as  this  we  were  anxious  to  get   away 
trom,  and  walk  once  more  on  a  soil  that  would  grow 
something  besides  stunted  sage  brush.      From  all    ap- 
pearances  the    Jay  hawkers    were    here  in   about  the 
same  predicament   Rogers   and  I  were    when  we  lost 
the  trail.      By    their    tracks    we    could   see  they  had 
scattered  wide  and  there    was    no    road  left  for  us  to 
follow,  and    they  had    evidently    tried   to   follow  our 
former  tracks.     Having  no  trail  to    follow    we  passed 
on  as  best  we  could  and  came  to  a  wide  piece    of  land 
on  which  were  growing  a  great  many  cabbage    trees. 
The  soil  was  of  the  finest  dust  with  no  grit  in  it,  and  not 
long  before  a  light  shower  had  fallen,  making  it  very  soft 
and  hard  to   get   along    in  with    the  mocassins.     The 
women  had  to  stop  to  rest  frequently,   so  our  progress 
was  very  slow.     Rogers  and  I  had    feet  about  as  hard 
as  those  of  the  oxen,  so  we  removed  our  mocassins  and 
went  barefoot,  finding  we  could  get  along  much  easier 
in  that  way,  but  the  others  had  such    tender  feet  they 
could  not  endure  the  rough  contact  with  the  brush  and 
mud.     Only  a   few    miles   had  been  made   before    the 
women  were    so  completely    tired    out  that  we  had  to 
stop  and  eat  our  little   bit  of  dried  meat    and  wait   till 
morning.     The  little  mule  now  carried  all  our  stock  of 


244  DEATH  VALLEY. 

food,  and  the  precious  burden  lightened  every  day. 
This  delay  was  not  expected,  but  we  had  to  endure  it 
and  bear  it  patiently,  for  there  was  a  limit  to  strength 
of  the  feeble  ones  of  our  party.  We  had  therefore  to 
make  another  barren  camp.  Relief  seemed  so  near  at 
hand  we  kept  good  courage  and  talked  freely  of  the 
happy  ending  which  would  soon  come.  If  we  had 
any  way  to  set  a  good  table  we  would  feast  and  be 
merry  like  the  prodigal  son,  but  at  any  rate  we  shall 
be  safe  if  we  can  reach  the  fertile  shore. 

When  the  sun  went  down  we  tied  the  mule  and 
oxen  to  cabbage  trees,  and  shortly  after  dusk  lay 
<3own  ourselves,  lor  we  had  enjoyed  a  good  fire  made 
of  the  trunks  of  cabbage  trees,  the  first  really  com- 
fortable one  in  a  long  time.  The  air  was  cooler  here,  for 
we  were  on  higher  ground,  and  there  was  some  snow 
on  the  range  of  mountains  before  us,  which  sent  these 
cool  breezes  down  to  us,  a  change  of  climate  quite 
pleasing. 

For  breakfast  in  the  morning  we  had  only  dried 
meat  roasted  before  the  fire,  without  water,  and 
when  we  started  each  one  put  a  piece  in  his  or  her 
pocket  to  chew  on  during  the  day  as  we  walked  along. 
As  we  went  ahead  the  ground  grew  dryer  and  the 
walking  much  improved.  The  morning  overhead 
was  perfectly  lovely,  as  away  east,  across  the  desert 
the  sun  early  showed  his  face  to  us.  Not  a  cloud  any- 
where, not  even  over  the  tops  of  the  high  peaks  where 
great  white  masses  sometimes  cluster  but  dissolve  as 
soon  as  they  float  away,  and  there  was  not  wind 
enough  to  be  perceptible.  We  remarked  the  same 
lack  of  animal  life  which  we  had  noticed  on  our  first 
passage  over  this  section,  seeing  not  a  rabbit,  bird, 
or  living  thing  we  could  use  for  food.  Bennett  had 
the  same  load  in  his  gun  he  put  there  when  we  left 
the  wagons,    and    all   the   powder   I  had  burned  was 


DEATH  VALLEY  245 

that  used  in  killing  the  oxen  we  had  slain  when- 
ever it  became  necessary  to  provide  for  our  barren 
kitchen. 

As  we  approached  the  low  foot-hills  the  trail  be- 
came better  travelled  atid  better  to  walk  in,  for  the 
Jayhawkers  who  had  scattered,  every  one  for  himself 
apparently,  in  crossing  the  plain,  seemed  here  to  have 
drawn  together  and  their  path  was  quite  a  beaten 
one.  We  saw  from  this  that  they  followed  the  tracks 
made  by  Rogers  and  myself  as  we  made  our  first  trip 
westward  in  search  of  bread.  Quite  a  little  before 
the  sun  went  out  of  sight  in  the  west  we  reached  our 
camping  place  in  the  lower  hills  at  the  eastern  slope 
of  a  range  we  must  soon  cross.  Here  was  some  stand- 
ing water  in  several  large  holes,  that  proved  enough 
for  our  oxen,  and  they  found  some  large  sage  brush 
and  small  bushes  round  about,  on  which  they  browsed 
and  among  which  they  found  a  few  bunches  of  grass. 
Lying  about  were  some  old  skulls  of  cattle  which 
had  sometime  been  killed,  or  died.  These  were  the 
first  signs  of  the  sort  we  had  seen  along  this  route. 
They  might  have  been  killed  by  Indians  who  doubt- 
less used  this  trail. 

The  next  day  in  crossing  the  range  before  us,  we 
reached  the  edge  of  the  snow,  which  the  sun  had 
softened,  and  we  dare  not  attempt  to  cross.  Early  in 
the  morning,  when  it  was  frozen  hard  the  cattle  could 
travel  it  very  well.  The  snow  belt  was  five  or  six 
miles  wide,  and  the  snow  two  or  three  feet  deep. 
This  was  a  very  good  camping  place  except  that  we 
had  to  melt  snow  for  all  our  water,  but  this  being 
coarse  and  icy  it  was  not  a  great  job  as  we  found 
enough  dry  juniper  treesand  twigs  to  make  a  very  good 
fire.  Here  we  also  had  to  kill  another  ox.  This  one 
in  its  turn  was  Arcane 's,  and  left  him  only  two,  and 
Bennett    three,  but   we    think   that    if    we  have    no 


246  DEATH  VALLEY. 

cccident  we  shall  get  them  along  with  us  till  we  can 
get  other  food,  as  they  have  very  light  loads  to  pack. 
When  the  ox  is  killed  and  the  meat  prepared  the  mule 
has,  for  a  time,  a  larger  load  than  all  the  oxen  have, 
but  seems  content  and  nips  a  bite  of  food  whenever  it 
can  see  a  chance  an5^where  along  the  road,  giving  us 
no  more  trouble  than  a  dog.  And  by  the  way,  I  think 
I  have  not  mentioned  our  faithful  camp  dog,  a  worthy 
member  of  our  party  who  stood  watch  alwa^'s  and 
gave  us  a  sure  alarm  if  anything  unusual  happened 
any  w^here  about.  He  was  perhaps  only  one  of  a 
hundred  that  tried  to  cross  the  plains  and  had  to  be 
abandoned  when  the}"  reached  the  upper  Platte,  w^here 
the  alkali  dust  made  their  feet  so  sore  they  could  not 
travel,  and  as  they  could  not  be  hauled  on  wagons 
they  were  left  behind.  But  this  dog  Cuff  did  not  pro- 
pose to  be  left  behind  to  starve,  and  crippled  along 
after  us,  we  doing  all  we  could  for  him,  and  proved  as 
tough  as  the  best  of  us.  Bennett  and  I  had  trained 
him  as  a  hunting  dog  in  the  East,  and  he  was  very 
knowing  and   handy  in  ever}-  particular. 

We  were  out  of  this  camp  at  daylight.  Very  little 
rest  for  some  of  us,  but  we  must  make  the  best  of  the 
cool  morning  while  the  snow  is  hard,  and  so  move  on 
as  soon  as  we  can  see  the  waj-.  As  it  gets  lighter 
and  the  sun  comes  up  red  and  hot  out  of  the  desert 
we  have  a  grand  view  of  the  great  spread  of  the 
country  to  south  and  of  the  great  snow  mountain  to 
the  north  and  east,  the  peak  standing  over  the  place 
where  we  left  our  wagons  nineteen  days  before,  on  the 
edge  of  Death  Valley.  The  glare  of  the  snow  on  the 
sun  makes  us  nearly  blind,  but  we  hurr>  on  to  try  to 
cross  it  before  it  becomes  so  soft  as  to  slump  under 
our  feet.  It  is  two  or  three  feet  in  the  deepest  places, 
and  probably  has  been  three  times  as  deep  when 
freshly  fallen,  but  it  is  now  solid  and    icy.     Our  raw- 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  247 

hide  mocassins  protect  our  feet  from  cold,  and  both 
we  and  the  animals  got  along  fairly  well,  the  oxen 
breaking  through  occasionally  as  the  snow  softened 
up,  but  generally  walking  on  the  top  as  we  did  our- 
selves. The  snow  field  reached  much  farther  down 
the  western  slope  than  we  had  hoped,  much  farther 
than  on  the  eastern  side.  Before  we  got  out  of  it,  we 
saw  the  track  of  some  animal  which  had  crossed  our 
route,  but  as  it  had  been  made  some  days  before  and 
now  could  be  seen  only  as  some  holes  in  the  surface, 
we  could  not  determine  what  sort  of  an  animal  i 
was. 

A  mile  or  two  down  the  hill  we  were  at  last  out  of 
the  snow,  and  a  little  farther  on  we  came  to  the  little 
babbling  brook  Rogers  and  I  had  so  long  painted  in 
the  most  refreshing  colors  to  the  tired  women,  with 
water,  wood  and  grass  on  every  hand,  the  three 
greatest  blessings  of  a  camper's  life.  Here  was  where 
Rogers  and  I  had  cooked  and  eaten  our  meat  of  crow, 
quail  and  hawk,  pretty  hard  food,  but  then,  the 
blessed  water! 

There  it  danced  and  jumped  over  the  rocks  singing 
the  merriest  song  one  ever  heard,  as  it  said — Drink, 
drink  ye  thirsty  ones  your  fi!l — the  happiest  sweetest 
music  to  the  poor  starved,  thirsty  souls,  wasted  down 
almost  to  haggard  skeletons.  O!  if  some  poet  of 
wildest  imagination  could  only  place  himself  in  the 
position  of  those  poor  tired  travelers  to  whom  water 
in  thick  muddy  pools  had  been  a  blessing,  who  had 
eagerly  drank  the  fluid  even  when  so  salt  and  bitter 
as  to  be  repulsive,  and  now  to  see  the  clear,  pure 
liquid,  distilled  from  the  crystal  snow,  abundant, 
free,  filled  with  life  and  health — and  write  it  in 
words — the  song  of  that  joyous  brook  and  set  it  to  the 
music  that  it  made  as  it  echoed  in  gentle  waves  from 
the  rocks  and  lofty  walls,  and    with    the    gentle    ac- 


248  DEATH  VALLEY. 

compauiment  of  rustling  trees — a  soft  singing  hus!r^ 
telling  of  rest,  and  peace,  and  happpiness. 

New  life  seemed  to  come  to  the  dear  women.  "O!. 
What  a  beautiful  stream ! ' '  say  they,  and  they  dip  ia 
a  tin  cup  and  drink,  then  watch  in  dreaming  ad- 
miration the  water  as  it  goes  hurrying  down ;  then 
dip  and  drink  again,  and  again  watch  the  jolly  rol- 
licking brook  as  if  it  were  the  most  entertaining  thing 
in  the  w^hole  wide  earth.  "Why  can't  such  a  stream 
as  that  run  out  of  the  great  Snow  Mountain  in  the  dry 
Death  Valley?'!  say  they — "so  we  could  get  water 
on  the  wa}', " 

The  men  have  felt  as  glad  as  any  of  them,  but  have 
gathered  wood  and  made  a  fire,  and  now  a  camp 
kettle  of  cut  up  meat  is  boiling  for  our  supper.  It 
was  not  yet  night,  but  we  must  camp  in  so  beautiful 
a  place  as  this,  and  though  the  food  was  poor,  we  were 
better  off  than  we  had  been  before. 

Bennett  proposed  that  I  take  the  mule  and  go  back 
to  where  we  saw  the  track  of  the  animal  in  the  snow 
and  follow  it  in  hope  that  we  might  get  some  game 
for  we  had  an  idea  it  might  be  an  elk  or  bear  or  some 
large  game,  good  to  kill  and  give  us  better  meat:  So 
T  saddled  the  mule  and  took  the  trail  back  till  I  came 
to  the  track,  then  followed  it  as  best  I  could,  for  it 
was  very  dull  and  gave  me  no  idea  what  it  was.  I 
traced  out  of  the  snow  and  then  in  a  blind  way 
through  bushes  as  high  as  the  mule's  back — Chaparral 
we  called  it  now — among  which  I  made  my  way  with 
difficulty.  I  could  now  see  that  the  track  was  made 
by  an  ox  or  cow — perhaps  an  elk — I  could  not  tell  for 
sure  it  was  so  faint.  This  chaparral  covered  a  large 
piece  of  table  land,  and  I  made  my  way  through  it, 
following  the  track  for  a  mile  or  two,  till  T  camp  to 
the  top  of  a  steep  hill  sloping  down  into  a  deep  canon 
and  a  creek,  on  the  bank  of  which  grew  sycamore  and 


DEATH  VALLEY.  249 

alder  trees,  with  large  willows.  I  stopped  here  some 
minutes  to  see  if  I  could  see  or  hear  the  movement  of 
of  anything.  Across  the  creek  I  could  see  a  small 
piece  of  perhaps  half  an  acre  of  natural  meadow,  and 
in  it  some  small  bunches  of  sj-camore  trees.  After  a 
little  I  discovered  some  sort  of  a  horned  animal  there, 
and  I  reckoned  this  was  good  enough  game  for  me  to 
try  and  capture,  so  led  the  mule  out  to  one  side  and 
down  the  hill  near  the  creek,  then  tied  her,  and  crept 
along  the  bank,  about  four  feet  high,  toward  the  little 
meadow.  When  about  right,  as  I  thought,  I  climbed 
up  behind  a  bunch  of  sycamores,  and  when  I  slowly 
and  cautiously  raised  up  I  was  within  fift}^  3'ards  of  a 
cow  or  steer  of  some  sort  which  I  could  dimly  see. 
I  put  a  ball  square  in  its  forehead  and  it  fell  without  a 
struggle.  I  loaded  again  quick  as  possible,  and  there 
saw  two  other  smaller  cattle  stepping  very  high  as 
though  terrified,  but  not  aware  of  the  nature  or 
location  of  the  danger.  I  gave  a  low  whistle  and  one 
of  them  looked  toward  me  long  enough  for  me  to  put 
a  ball  in  it.  The  third  one  was  now  behind  a  clump  of 
sycamores,  and  I  soon  saw  its  face  through  a  little 
opening  not  more  than  three  inches  wide.  I  made  a 
shot,  and  wounded  it,  and  then  rushed  up  and  gave  it 
a  fatal  one. 

I  examined  my  game  and  found  the  first  one  was  a 
poor  old  cow,  but  the  others  were  yearlings,  one  of 
them  very  fat  and  nice,  and!  soon  had  the  hind 
quarters  skinned  out,  and  all  the  fat  I  could  find, 
which  made  a  big  load  for  the  mule.  It  was  now 
almost  dark,  and  the  next  problem  was  to  get  back  to 
camp  again.  The  brushy  hills  would  be  terrible  to 
cross  with  a  load  of  meat,  and  by  the  way  the  ground 
lay  I  concluded  our  camp  was  on  this  same  creek 
farther  down. 

The  only  way  that  seemed  at  all  feasible  was  to  fol- 


250  DEATH  VALLEY. 

low  the  course  of  tke  stream  if  possible,  rather  than 
return  the  course  over  which  I  had  come.  There 
were  so  many  bushes  and  trees  along  the  bank  that  I 
had  to  take  to  the  bed  and  follow  in  the  water,  and  as 
it  was  rocky  and  rough,  and  so  dark  I  could  not  see 
well  how  to  step,  I  stumbled  into  holes  and  pools  up 
to  my  waist,  wet  as  a  rat.  Coming  to  a  small  open 
place  I  decided  I  had  better  camp  for  the  night  and 
not  attempt  further  progress  in  the  darkness,  and  the 
decision  was  hastened  by  dark  clouds,  which  began  to 
gather  and  a  few  sprinkles  of  rain  began  to  come.'  There 
was  a  good  patch  of  grass  for  the  mule,  but  all  was  un- 
comfortable for  me,  with  the  prospect  for  a  rainj'  night, 
but  as  wood  was  plenty  I  decided  to  make  a  fire  and 
take  the  chances.  I  looked  for  matches  and  scratched 
one.  No  go — they  were  damp,  and  scratch  as  careful 
and  quickly  as  I  could,  there  was  no  answering  spark 
or  flame,  and  darkness  reigned  supreme.  A  camp 
without  a  fire  in  this  wet  place  was  not  to  be  thought 
of,  so  I  concluded  I  might  as  well  be  slowly  working 
my  way  down  along  the  stream,  through  thick  brush 
and  cold   water,   as  to  sit  here  in  the  cold  and  wait. 

So  the  little  mule  and  I  started  on,  wading  the  creek 
in  thick  darkness,  getting  only  the  most  dim  reflected 
light  from  the  sky  through  now  and  then  an  opening 
in  the  trees.  I  did  not  know  then  how  easy  it  was 
for  a  grizzly  to  capture  m3-self,  the  mule  and  meat  and 
have  quite  a  variety  for  supper.  But  the  grizzh- 
stayed  at  home  and  we  followed  on  through  brambles 
and  hard  brush,  through  which  it  was  almost  impos- 
sible to  force  one's  way.  As  it  turned  out,  I  was  not  in 
the  track  of  the  storm  and  did  iiot  suffer  much  from  it. 
Soon  the  cafion  grew  wider,  and  I  could  make  out  on 
the  right  hand  a  piece  of  table  land  covered  with  brush 
that  seemed  easier  to  get  through  than  the  creek  bed. 

The  hill  up  to  the  table  land  was  verj-  steep,  but  not 


DEATH  VALLEY  251 

more  than  fifty  yards  high,  and  when  the  mule  tried 
to  get  up  she  got  along  verj'  well  till  near  the  top, 
when  she  slipped  in  the  wet  earth  and  never  stopped 
till  she  reached  the  bottom  and  lay  down.  She  was 
helped  up  to  her  feet  again  and  we  tried  it  in  another 
place,  I  holding  her  from  slipping  when  she  stopped 
to  rest,  and  at  last  we  reached  the  top.  The  mule 
started  on,  seeming  to  follow  a  trail,  but  I  could  not 
see  whether  there  was  a  trail  or  not,  so  thick  was  the 
darkness,  but  there  was  evidentl}'  something  of  the 
kind,  for  the  brush  was  two  or  three  feet  high  and  very 
thick. 

After  proceeding  some  distance  the  mule  stopped 
and  did  not  seem  to  wish  to  go  any  farther.  I  was 
pretty  sure  there  was  something  in  front  of  her  that 
blocked  the  way,  and  so  worked  my  way  through  the 
brush  and  carefully  past  her.  I  could  partly  see  and 
partly  hear  something  just  ahead,  and  in  a  moment 
found  it  was  our  good  faithful  Cuff,  and  no  frightful 
spook  at  all.  The  good  fellow  had  discovered  our 
approach  and  came  out  to  meet  us,  and  I  am  sure 
the  mule  was  as  glad  as  I  was  to  see  him.  He  crawled 
through  the  brush  and  smelled  at  the  mule's  load 
and  then  went  forward  in  the  trail,  which  we  followed. 
It  was  a  long  time  after  midnight  when  we  reached 
camp.  There  was  a  good  fire  burning,  but  all  were 
asleep  till  I  led  the  mule  up  to  the  fire  and  called 
out — "Wake  Up,"  when  they  were  most  of  them  on 
their  feet  in  a  minute  without  stopping  to  dress,  for 
all  had  slept  a  long  time  without  taking  off  their 
clothes. 

John  took  charge  of  the  mule  and  unloaded  it,  tell- 
ing me  to  get  into  his  warm  bed.  I  took  off  my  wet 
clothes  and  told  him  to  dry  them,  and  then  got  be- 
tween the  dry,  warm  blankets  in  greatest  comfort. 
Daylight  came  very  quickly,  it  seemed  to  me,  and  be. 


252  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

befoiC  I  finally  rose,  the  sun  had  been  up  some  hours 
before  me.  Before  I  fell  asleep  I  could  hear  the 
women  say,  as  they  cut  oflfthe  pieces  of  meat  to  roast 
— "See  the  fat!  Only  see  how  nice  it  is!"  Quickly 
roasted  on  the  coals  they  ate  the  delicate  morsels  with 
a  relish  and,  most  of  all,  praised  the  sweet  fat.  "We 
like  to  have  it  all  fat,  "  said  they,  showing  how  their 
system  craved  the  nourishment  the  poor  starved  beef 
could  not  give.  No  one  went  to  bed  after  i  came, 
but  all  sat  and  roasted  meat  and  ate  till  they  were 
satisfied. 

This  sporting  trip  was  quite  different  from  deer 
hunting  in  Wisconsin,  and  nothing  like  looking  for 
game  in  Death  Valley  where  nothing  lived.  Ii  was 
the  hardest  night's  work  that  ever  came  to  me  in 
many  a  day,  and  not  the  wild  sport  I  generally 
looked  for  when  on  the  chase.  I  felt  pretty  well 
when  I  got  up,  and  a  chunk  of  my  last  night's  prize 
which  had  been  loasted  for  me  was  eaten  with  a  relish, 
for  it  was  the  best  of  meat  and  I,  of  course,  had  a  first 
class  appetite.  I  had  to  tell  them  my  last  hunting 
story,  and  was  much  praised  as  a  lucky  boy. 

We  would  not  be  compelled  to  kill  any  more  of 
our  poor  oxen  in  order  to  live.  So  far  we  had  killed  six 
of  them,  and  there  were  five  left.  Our  present 
situation  was  much  appreciated,  compared  with  that 
of  a  few  days  ago  when  we  were  crawling  slowly  over 
the  desert,  hungry,  sore-footed  and  dry,  when  to  lie 
was  far  easier  than  to  take  steps  forward.  We  felt 
like  rejoicing  at  our  deliverance  and  there  was  no 
mourning  now  for  us.  The  surrounding  hills  and 
higher  mountains  seemed  more  beautiful  to  us. 
They  were  covered  with  green  trees  and  brush,  not  a 
desert  place  in  sight.  The  clear  little  singing  brook 
ran  merrily  on  its  way,  the  happiest,  brightest  stream 
in  all  my  memory.     Wild  birds  came  near  us  without 


DEATH  VALLEY.  253 

fear,  and  seemed  very  friendly.  All  was  calm,  and 
the  bright  sunshine  exactly  warm  enough  so  that  no 
one  could  complain  of  heat  or  cold. 

When  ready  to  move  it  was  announced  that  I  had 
lost  my  saddle  blanket  in  my  adventure,  so  they 
substituted  another  one  and  I  took  the  back  track  to 
the  place  where  the  mule  slipped  down  the  bank, 
and  there  I  found  it.  I  soon  overtook  them  again 
just  as  they  were  going  to  camp  on  Mrs.  Bennett's  ac- 
count, as  she  had  been  suddenly  taken  sick  with 
severe  pain  and  vomiting,  something  as  Rogers  and  I 
had  been  after  eating  our  first  California  corn  meal. 
The  rich,  fat  meat  was  too  strong  for  her  weak 
stomach. 

Arcane  all  along  had  an  idea  that  Rogers  and  I 
meant  to  surprise  them  by  leading  them  to  believe 
the  house  we  had  visited  was  quite  a  distance  off,  and 
then  to  so  manage  it  that  it  should  appear  upon  their 
sight  suddenly.  We  assured  them  it  would  take  two 
or  more  camps  before  we  could  get  there,  and  if  Mrs. 
Bennett  did  not  soon  recover,  even  more  than  that. 
Our  camp  here  was  under  a  great  live  oak,  the  ground 
deep  covered  with  drv  leaves,  and  near  by  a  beauti- 
ful meadow  where  our  cattle  and  mule  ate,  drank  and 
rested,  the  oxen  chewing  their  cud  with  such  an  air  of 
comfort  as  had  not  come  to  them  since  leaving  their 
far-off  eastern  pastures.  They  seemed  as  much 
pleased  as  any  one.  They  would  lie  down  and  rest  and 
eat  at  the  same  time  in    perfectly    enjo3'able    laziness. 

Here  we  all  rested  and  washed  such  clothes  as  we 
could  do  without  long  enough  to  dry,  and  washed 
our  faces  and  hands  over  and  over  again  to  remove 
the  dirt  which  had  been  burned  and  sweated  in  so 
completely  as  not  to  come  off  readily.  We  sat  on  the 
bank  of  the  brook  with  our  feet  dangling  in  the  water, 
a  most  refreshing  bath,   and    they    too   began  to  look 


254  DEATH  VALLEY. 

clean  again.      We  often  saw  tracks  of  the  grizzly  bear 
about,  but  in  our  ignorance  had  no  fear  of    them,  for 
we  did  not  know    they  were    a    dangerous    animal. 
An  owl  came  and  hooted  in  the  night,  but  that  was  the 
only  challenge  an 3-  wild  beast  or  bird  gave  to  our  peace- 
ful and  restful]  camp.     We    were  out  of   the  dreadful 
sands  and  shadows  of   Death    A^alley,    its  exhausting 
phantoms,  its  salty    columns    bitter  lakes    and  wild, 
dreary  sunken  desolation.     If    the  waves  of    the  sea 
could  flow  in  and    cover  its  barren  nakedness,   as  we 
now  know  they  might  if  a    few  sandy  barriers  were 
swept  away,  it  would  be    indeed,  a    blessing,  for  in  it 
there  is  naught  of  good,  comfort  or   satisfaction,   but 
ever  in  the  minds  of  those    who    braved   its  heat  and 
sands,  a  thought  of  a  horrid  Charnel  house,  a  cornero 
the    earth    so    dreary  that    it  requires  an  exercise  of 
strongest    faith  to  believe    that  the  great  Creator  ever 
smiled    upon   it    as  a    portion    of  his  work  and  pro- 
nounced it  "Very  good.  "     We  had  crossed    the  great 
North  American  Continent,  from  a  land    of    plenty, 
over  great  barren  hills  and  plains,  to  another  mild  and 
beautiful  region,  where,  though  still  in  winter  months, 
we  were  basking  in    the    warmth    and  luxviriance  of 
early  summer.     We  thought  not  of  the  gold  we   had 
come  to  win.     We  were    dead    almost,     and  now  we 
lived.     We  were  parched    with    thirst,    and  now  the 
brightest  of  crystal  streams    invited    us   to  stoop  and 
drink.     We    were   starved    so  that   we  had  looked  at 
each  other  with  maniac  thoughts,  and  now  we  placed 
in  our  mouth  the  very /at  of  the  land.     We  had  seen 
our  cattle  almost   perishing;  seen  them    grow    gaunt 
and  tottering;    seen  them    slowly    plod    along    with 
hanging  heads  and  only  the  supremacy  of  human  will 
over  animal  instinct  had  kept   them  from   lying  down 
never  to  rise  again.     Now    thej-   were    in  pastures  of 
sweet  grass,  chewing  the  cud  of  content  and  satifaction. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  255 

Life  which  had  been  a  burden  grew  sweet  to  us,  and 
though  it  may  be  that  our  words  of  praise  to  Him, 
whose  will  was  to  deliver  us  out  of  the  jaws  of  death, 
were  not  set  nor  formal,  j^et  His  all-seeing  eye  saw 
the  truth  in  our  hearts,  and  saw  there  the  fullest  ex- 
pression of  our  gratitude  and  thankfulness.  Who 
shall  say  the  thanks  that  arose  were  less  acceptable, 
because  not  given  on  bended  knees  before  gilded 
altars? 

Though  across  the  desert  and  evidently  in  the 
long  promised  land  our  troubles  and  trials  were  not 
through  b}'  an}-  means,  but  evidently  we  were  out  '^f 
danger.  Our  lives  seemed  to  be  secure,  and  we  were 
soon  to  meet  with  settlers  who  would  no  doubt  extend 
to  us  the  hand  of  human  sympathy.  Many  long 
miles  3'et  remained  between  us  and  the  rivers  in  whose 
sands  were  hidden  the  tin}-  grains  of  gold  we  came  to 
seek. 

The  rest  in  the  lovely  camp  had  answered  to  cause 
Mrs.  Bennett  to  feel  quite  well  again  by  the  next 
morning,  and  we  made  ready  to  proceed.  We  had  the 
trail  of  the  Jayhawkers  to  follow,  so  the  vines, 
brambles  and  tangles  which  had  perpiexed  Rogers 
and  myself  in  our  first  passage  were  now  somewhat 
broken  down,  and  we  could  get  along  very  well  with- 
out further  clearing  of  the  road  until  the  hills  came 
down  so  close  on  both  sides  that  there  was  no  room 
except  in  the  very  bed  of  the  stream.  There  was  no 
other  way,  so  we  waded  along  after  the  oxen  as  best 
we  could.  Sometimes  the  women  fell  down,  for  a 
rawhide  mocassin  soaked  soft  in  water  was  not  a  very 
comfortable  or  convenient  shoe,  however  it  might  be 
adapted  to  hot,  dry  sands.  The  creek  was  shaded 
and  the  water  quite  cool.  The  trail,  such  as  it  was, 
crossed  the  creek  often  a.id  generally  was  nothing  else 
than  the   stream  itself     The   constant    wading,     and 


256  DEATH  VAI.IvEY. 

wet,  cold  clothing  caused  the  women  ^o  give  out  soon 
and  we  selected  the  first  dry  suitable  place  which 
oflFered  food  for  the  oxen,  as  a  place  to  camp. 

Wood  was  plenty  and  dry,  so  a  good  fire  was  soon 
burning,  and  the  poor  women,  wet  to  the  waist  and 
even  higher,  were  standing  before  it,  turning  round 
and  round  to  get  warm  and  dry.  Someone  remarked 
that  they  resembled  geese  hanging  before  the  fire  to 
roast,  as  they  slowly  revolved,  and  it  was  all  owing  to 
their  fatigue  that  the  suggestor  did  not  receive  merited 
punishment  then  and  there  at  their  hands.  As  they 
got  a  little  dry  and  comfortable  they  remarked  that 
even  an  excess  of  water  like  this  was  better  than  the 
desert  where  there  was  none  at  all,  and  as  to  their 
looks,  there  were  no  society  people  about  to  point 
their  fingers  at  them,  and  when  they  reached  a  settled 
country  they  hoped  to  have  a  chance  to  change  their 
clothes,  and  get  two  dresses  apiece,  and  that  these 
would  be  long  enough  to  hide  their  knees  which  these 
poor  tatters  quite  failed  to  do.  One  remarked  that  she 
was  sure  she  had  been  down  in  the  brook  a  dozen 
times  and  that  she  did  not  consider  cold  water  baths 
so  frequently  repeated  were  good  for  the  health. 

Young  Charley  Arcane  had  been  getting  better  for 
some  days.  No  medicine  had  been  given  him,  and  it 
was  no  doubt  the  change  of  air  and  water  that  had 
begun  to  effect  a  cure.  Arcane  had  a  hard  time  of  it 
to  keep  the  brush  from  pulling  George  and  Melissa 
off  of  Old  Crump  into  the  water.  It  vva*  indeed  one 
of  the  hardest  day's  work  of  the  whole  journey,  but 
no  one  was  low  spirited,  and  all  felt  very  well.  The 
camping  place  was  in  a  deep  cailon,  surrounded  by 
thick  brush,  so  that  no  wind  came  in  to  chill  us. 
Ever3'body  was  cook  and  nobody  was  boss.  Not  a 
cent  of  money  among  us,  nor  any  chance  to  use  any  if 
we  had  possessed  it.     We  had  nice,    sweet,  fat  meat, 


DEATH  VAI.I.EY,  257 

cooked  rare  or  well  done  as  each  one  perferred,  and 
no  complaints  about  the  waiters.  The  conditions  were 
so  favorable,  compared  with  the  terrible  Death  Valley 
and  its  surromidings  that  every  one  remarked  about  it, 
and  no  one  felt  in  the  least  like  finding  fault  with  the 
little  inconveniencies  we  were  forced  to  put  up  with. 
It  might  cure  an  inveterate  fault-finder  to  take  a 
course  of  training  in  the  desert. 

The  next  day  we  did  not  wade  half  as  much,  and 
after  a  few  hours  of  travel  we  suddenly  emerged  from 
the  brush  into  a  creek  bottom  which  was  much  wider, 
with  not  a  tree  to  obstruct  our  way.  The  soil  was 
sandy  and  covered  more  or  less  with  sage  brush,  and 
the  stream  which  had  been  strong  and  deep  enough  to 
make  us  very  wet  now  sank  entirely  out  of  sight  in 
the  sandy  bottom.  The  hills  were  thinly  timbered 
on  the  left  side  but  quite  brushy  on  the  right,  and  we 
could  see  the  track  of  cattle  in  the  sand.  No  signs 
of  other  animals,  but  some  small  birds  came  near,  and 
meadow  larks  whistled  their  tune,  quite  familiar  to 
us,  but  still  sounding  slightly  different  from  the  song 
of  the  same  bird  in  the  East.  High  in  the  air  could 
be  seen  a  large  sailing  hawk  or  buzzard. 

We  stopped  to  reit  at  noon  and  noticed  that  the 
water  ran  a  little  in  the  creek  bed;  but,  by  the  time 
we  were  ready  to  start  we  found  none  with  which  to  fill 
our  canteens.  No  doubt  this  water  was  poured  into 
the  canon  somewhere  near  the  place  where  we  killed 
the  three  cattle,  and  we  had  got  out  of  it  before  the 
flood  came  down.  It  was  astonishing  to  see  how  the 
thirsty  sand  drank  up  the  quite  abundant  flow. 

The  next  day  we  came  down  to  the  point  of  hill 
that  nearly  crossed  the  valley,  and  we  crossed  the  low 
ridge  rather  than  make  a  longer  trip  to  get  around 
by  way  of  the  valley.  As  we  reached  the  summit 
there  appeared  before  us  a. ^beautiful  a  rural  picture  as 


258  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

one  ever  looked  upon.  A  large  green  meadow,  of  a 
thousand  acres,  more  or  less;  its  southwest  side 
bounded  by  low  mountains,  at  the  base  of  which  oak 
trees  were  plenty,  but  no  brush  or  undergrowth.  It 
was  like  a  grand  old  park,  such  as  we  read  of  in 
English  tales.  All  over  the  meadow  cattle  of  all  sorts 
and  sizes  grazed,  the  "Ring -streaked  and  speckled" 
of  old  Jacob's  breed  being  very  prominent.  Some 
lazily  cropped  the  grass;  some  still  more  lazily  re- 
clined and  chewed  their  cud;  while  frisky  calves 
exercised  their  muscles  in  swift  races  and  then  secured 
their  dinner  from  anxious  mothers.  We  camped  at 
once  and  took  the  loads  from  all  the  animals  that  they 
might  feed  in  comfort  on  the  sweet  grass  that  lay  be- 
fore them. 

We  tarried  here  perhaps  two  hours,  till  the  cattle 
stopped  eating,  and  amply  enjoyed  the  scene.  Never 
again  would  anj^  one  of  the  party  go  back  over  that 
dreary  desert,  they  said,,  and  everyone  wondered  why 
all  places  could  not  be  as  green  and  beautiful  as  this 
one  I  cannot  half  tell  how  we  felt  and  acted,  nor  what 
we  said  in  our  delight  over  this  picture  of  plenty. 
The  strong  contrasts  created  strong  impressions,  and 
the  tongues  so  long  silent  in  our  dry  and  drear}' 
trouble  were  loosened  to  say  everything  the  heart  in- 
spired. Think  as  much  as  you  can;  you  cannot  think 
it  all. 

We  felt  much  better  after  our  rest,  and  the  oxen 
seemed  stronger  and  better  able,  as  well  as  more 
willing"  to  carry  their  loads,  so  we  soon  prepared  to 
move  on  down  the  valley,  toward  the  liDUse  we  had 
spoken  of  as  the  goal  we  were  to  reach.  It  was  now 
the  7th  day  of  March  1850,  and  this  date,  as  well  as 
the  4th  day  of  November  1849  will  always  remain  an 
important  one  in  memory.  On  the  last  named  day 
we  left  the  trail  to.  take  the    unfortunate  cut-off,    anp 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  259 

for  four  long  months  we  had  wandered  and  struggled 
in  terrible  hardship.  Every  point  of  that  terrible 
journey  is  indelibly  fixed  upon  my  memory  and 
though  sevent3'-three  years  of  age  on  April  6th  1893  I 
can  locate  everj-  camp,  and  if  strong  enough  could 
follow  that  weary  trail  from  Death  Vallej'  to 
Eos  Angeles  with  unerring  accuracy.  The  brushy 
canon  we  have  just  described  is  now  occupied  bj'  the 
Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  and  the  steep  and  narrow 
ridge  pierced  by  a  tunnel,  through  which  the  trains 
pass.  The  beautiful  meadow  we  so  much  admired 
has  now  upon  its  border  a  railroad  station,  Newhall, 
and  at  the  proper  season  some  portion  of  it  is  covered 
with  thousands  of  tra3^s  of  golden  apricots,  grown  in 
the  luxuriant  orchards  just  beyond  the  hills  toward 
the  coast,  and  here  drying  in  the  bright  summer  sun. 
The  cattle  in  the  parti-colored  coats  are  gone,  but 
one  who    knows    the  ground  can  see  our  picture. 

Loaded  up  again  we  start  down  the  beautiful  grassy 
valley,  the  wo.U2n  each  with  a  staff  in  hand,  and 
everything  is  ne.v  and  strange  10  u^.  Rogers  and  I 
know  that  we  will  soon  meet  people  who  are  strangers 
to  us;  who  speak  a  strange  language  of  which  we 
know  nothing,  and  how  we,  without  a  dollar,  are  to 
proceed  to  get  our  food  and  things  we  need,  are 
questions  we  cannot  answer  nor  devise  any  easj^  way  to 
overcome.  The  mines  are  yet  five  hundred  miles 
away,  and  we  know  not  of  any  work  for  us  to  do 
nearer.  Our  lives  have  been  given  back  to  us,  and 
now  comes  the  problem  of  how  to  sustain  them  man- 
fully and  independently  as  soon  as  possible.  If 
worse  comes  to  worst  we  can  walk  to  San  Francisco, 
probably  kill  enough  game  on  the  way  and  possibly 
reach  the  gold  mines  at  last,  but  the  way  was  not 
clear.  We  must  trust  much  to  luck  and  fortune  and 
the  ever  faithful  Providence    which    rarelv   fails  those 


26o  DEATH  VALLEY. 

who  truly  try    to    help  themselves. 

We  began  to  thiuksorae  very  independent  thoughts. 
We  had  a  mule  to  carry  our  camp  kettle  and  meat; 
Our  cattle  were  now  begining  to  improve  and  would 
soon  get  fat;  these  could  carry  our  blankets  and  odd 
loads,  while  Old  Crump  the  christian  could  still  carry 
the  children;  Bennett  and  I  knew  how  to  hunt,  and  ' 
had  good  rifles;  so  we  could  still  proceed,  and  we 
determined  that,  come  what  may,  we  will  be  victorious. 

These  were  some  of  the  plans  we  talked  over  at  our 
camps  and  resting  places,  and  as  we  walked  along. 
If  we  could  get  the  two  families  fixed  in  some  waj^  so 
they  could  do  without  Rogers  and  I,  we  could  strike 
for  the  mines  quite  rapidly  and  no  doubt  soon  get 
ourselves  on  good  footing.  We  were  j^ounger  than 
the  rest  and  could  endure  more  hardship.  We  de- 
cide to  remain  together  till  we  get  to  Los  Angeles, 
and  then  see  what  is  best. 

We  reached  our  camping  place  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
about  a  hundred  yards  from  the  house  we  have  so 
long  striven  to  reach.  Here  we  unloaded  in  the  shade 
of  a  large  willow  tree,  and  scarcely  had  we  removed 
the  harness  from  the  oxen  wheu  the  good  lady  of  the 
liouse  and  her  little  child  came  down  to  see  us.  She 
stood  for  a  moment  and  looked  around  heJ  and  at  the 
two  small  children  on  the  blankets,  and  we  could 
hear  her  murmur  inucJia pobre  (verj-  poor.)  She  could 
see  our  ragged  clothes  and  dirty  faces  and  everything 
told  her  of  our  extreme  destitution.  After  seeing  our 
oxen  and  mule  which  were  so  pDor  she  said  to  herself 
''flaco,  Jlacd"  (so  thin. )  She  then  turned  to  us,  Rogers 
and  I,  whom  she  had  seen  before,  and  as  her  lively 
little  youngster  clung  to  her  dress,  as  if  in  fear  of 
such  queer  looking  people  as  we  were,  she  took  an 
orange  from  her  pocket  and  pointing  to  the  children 
of  our  party,    wanted   to  know  if  we  had  give  n  them 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  261 

the  four  oranges  she  sent  to  them  by  us.  We  made 
signs  that  we  had  done  as  she  requested,  when  she 
smiled  and  said  ''Buenos  Muclmc/ios  \goo^  boys. )  In 
all  this  talk  neither  could  say  a  word  the  other  could 
understand,  and  the  conversation  was  carried  on  by 
signs. 

Arcane  said  to  her— "Me  Catholic"  which  she 
seemed  partly  to  comprehend  and  seemed  more 
friendly.  About  this  time  two  men  rode  up  and  took 
a  look  at  us.  Arcane,  who  was  a  mason,  gave  the 
masonic  sign,  as  he  told  me  afterward,  but  neither  of 
them  recognizee^  it.  We  used  such  words  of  Spanish 
as  I  had  taken  down  in  my  pass  book  and  committed 
to  memory  and  by  motions  in  addition  to  these  made 
them  understand  something  of  fhe  state  of  affairs  and 
that  Mr.  French  who  had  assisted  us  before  had  told 
us  we  could  get  some  meat  {came)  from  them.  These 
men  were  finely  mounted,  wore  long  leggins  made  of 
hide,  dressed  with  the  hair  on,  which  reached  to  their 
hips,  stiff  hats  with  a  broad  rim,  and  great  spurs  at  their 
heels.  Each  had  a  coil  of  braided  rawhide  rope  on 
the  pommel  of  the  saddle,  and  all  these  arrangements 
together  made  a  very  dashing  outfit. 

They  seemed  to  understand  what  we  had  said  to 
them,  for  they  rode  off  with  a  rush  and  came  back  in 
a  short  time,  leading  a  fine,  fat  two-year-old  heifer. 
When  near  our  camp  the  rider  who  was  behind  threw 
his  riata  and  caught  both  hind  feet  of  the  animal  when 
by  a  sudden  movement  of  the  horses  the  heifer  was 
thrown.  One  of  them  dismounted,  and  at  the  com- 
mand the  horse  backed  up  and  kept  the  rope  tight 
while  the  man  went  up  to  the  protrate  beast  and  cut  its 
throat.  As  soon  as  it  had  ceased  struggling,  they 
loosened  their  ropes  and  coiled  them  up:  they  came 
to  us  and  pointed  to  the  dead  heifer  in  a  way  which 
said — "Help  yourselves. ' ' 


262  DEATH  VALLEY. 

We  were  much  gratified  at  the  generosity  of  the 
people,  and  at  once  dressed  the  animal  as  it  la}-, 
cutting  oflf  some  good  fat  pieces  which  we  roasted 
over  the  fire  and  ate  with  a  relish.  It  seemed  as  if 
meat  never  tasted  so  good  as  that  did  sweet,  fra- 
grant, and  juicy.  If  some  French  cook  could  only 
cook  a  steak  that  would  smell  and  taste  to  his 
customers  as  that  meal  tasted  to  us,  his  art  would 
be  perfect.  We  separated  a  hind  quarter  and  hung 
it  to  a  tree,  and  when  the  lady  came  back  we  told 
her  that  the  piece  we  had  selected  was  enough  for 
our  present  use,  so  she  caused  the  remainder  with 
the  hide  to  be  taken  to  the  house.  Toward  night 
the}^  drove  up  a  lot  of  cows  and  calves  and  other  cattle 
into  their  cattle  yard  or  corral,  as  it  is  called  all  over 
California,  a  stockade  of  strong  oak  posts  set  deep  in 
the  ground  and  close  together,  enclosing  a  space  of 
about  half  an  acre.  The  horsemen  now  rode  in  and 
began  to  catch  the  calves  with  their  ropes.  It  seemed 
as  if  they  were  able  to  thro  vv  a  rope  over  a  calf's  head 
or  around  either  leg  the}-  desired,  with  better  aim,  and 
at  as  great  a  distance  as  one  could  shoot  a  Colt's  re- 
volver, and  we  saw  at  once  that  a  good  raw-hide  rope. 
in  the  hands  of  an  experienced  man  and  well-trained 
horse,  was  a  weapon  in  many  respects  superior  to  fire- 
arms of  any  kind.  A  man  near  the  gate  loosened  the 
ropes  and  pushed  the  calves  into  a  separate  corral  till 
they  had  as  many  as  they  pesired. 

Rogers  watched  the  circus  till  it  was  over  and  then 
returned  to  camp,  meeting  on  the  way  Bennett  and 
Arcane,  with  their  wives  and  children,  carrying  some 
blankets,  for  the  good  lady  had  invited  them  to  come 
up  to  the  house  and  sleep.  They  said  we  could  go 
down  and  keep  camp  if  old  dog  Cuflf  w^as  willing,  for 
they  had  left  him  guarding  the  property.  He  was 
pleased  enough  to  have  us  come  and  keep  him  com- 


DEATH  VATXEY.  263 

pany,  and  we  slept  nicely,  disturbed  only  a  little  by 
the  barking  of  the  house  dogs  and  the  hooting  of  an 
owl  that  came  to  visit  our  tree. 

The  people  came  back  to  camp  iu  the  Jiorning  and 
had  their  experience  to  relate.  Their  hosts  first  baked 
some  kind  of  slapjacks  and  divided  them  among  their 
guests;  then  gave  them  beans  seasoned  hot  with  pep- 
per: also  great  pieces  of  squash  cooked  before  the  fire, 
which  the}"  said  was  delicious  and  sweet-more  han 
good.  Then  came  a  dish  of  dried  meat  pounded  fine, 
mixed  with  green  peppers  and  well  fried  in  beef  tallow. 
This  seemed  to  be  the  favorite  dish  of  the  proprietors, 
but  was  a  little  too  hot  for  our  people.  They  called  it 
chili  cum  carne-meat  with  pepper-and  we  soon  found 
this  to  be  one  of  the  best  dishes  cooked  by  the  Califor- 
nians.  The  children  were  carefully  waited  on  and 
given  special  attention  to  by  these  good  people,  and  it 
was  nearly  ten  o'clock  before  the  feast  was  over:  then 
the  household  had  evening  worship  by  meeting  in  si- 
lence, except  a  few  set  words  repeated  by  some  in  turn, 
the  ceremony  lasting  half  an  hour  or  more.  Then 
they  came  and  wished  them  bitenos  noches  in  the  most 
polite  manner  and  left  them  to  arrange  their  blankets 
on  the  floor  and  go  to  sleep. 

The  unaccustomed  shelter  of  a  roof  and  the  restless 
worrying  oi  the  children,  who  required  much  attention, 
for  the  change  of  diet  had  about  the  same  effect  on  them 
as  on  Rogers  and  myself  when  we  first  partook  of  the 
Californii  food,  gave  them  little  sleep,  but  still  they 
rested  and  were  truly  grateful  for  the  most  perfect  hos- 
pitality of  these  kind  hearted  people. 

In  the  morning  the  two  horsemen  and  two  Indians 
went  to  the  corral,  when  the  riders  would  catch  a  cow 
with  their  ropes  and  draw  her  head  up  to  a  post,  bind- 
ing it  fast,  while  an  Indian  took  a  short  piece  of  rope 
and  closely  tied  the  hind  legs  together  above  the  gam- 


264  DEATH  VALLEY. 

brel  joint,  making  the  tail  fast  also.  They  had  a  large 
bucket  and  several  gourds.  The  Indians  then  milked 
the  cows  they  had  made  fast,  getting  from  a  pint  to  two 
quarts  from  each  one,  milking  into  a  gourd  and  pour- 
ing into  the  biicket  till  they  had  all  thej^  desired.  The 
calves  were  separated  the  night  before  so  they  could 
secure  some  milk.  Cows  were  not  trained  to  stand 
and  be  milked  as  they  were  at  home.  Setting  down 
the  bucket  of  milk  before  us,  with  some  small  gourds 
for  dippers,  we  were  invited  to  drink  all  we  wished. 
This  was  a  regular  banquet  to  us,  for  our  famished 
condition  and  good  appetites  made  food  reliss  wonder- 
fully. When  we  made  a  sign  of  wishing  to  pay  them 
for  their  great  kindness  they  shook  their  heads  and 
utterly  refused.  It  was  genuine  sympathy  and  hospi- 
tality on  their  part,  and  none  of  us  ever  forgot  it;  the 
sight  of  a  native  Californian  has  alwaj^s  brought  out 
thoughts  of  these  good  people,  and  respect  and  thank- 
fulness to  the  race.  This  rancho,  at  which  we  were  so 
kindly  entertained  was  called  San  Fraucisquito,  or 
Little  San  Francisco  Rancho. 

This  morning  Mr.  Arcane,  with  our  assistance,  made 
an  arrangement  with  these  people  to  give  them  his  two 
oxen;  and  they  were  to  take  him  and  his  wife  and  child, 
to  the  sea-shore,  at  a  place  called  San  Pedro,  from 
which  place  he  hoped,  in  some  way,  to  get  passage  to 
San  Francisco  in  a  sailing  vessel.  He  had  no  money, 
and  no  property  to  sell,  except  perhaps  his  spy-glass, 
worth  about  ten  dollars.  With  this  poor  prospect  be- 
fore him  he  started  for  the  sea.  He  bade  Bennett's 
folks  good-bye,  then  came  to  me  and  put  a  light  gold 
ring  on  my  finger,  saying  that  it  and  his  interest  in  the 
little  mule  were  mine.  Then  he  gave  his  silver  watch 
to  Rogers  and  said  it  was  all  he  had  to  give  him,  but 
if  he  had  a  million  dollars,  he  would  divide,  and  still 
think  it  a  small  compensation  for  the  faithful  services 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY.  265 

we  had  rendered  him.  "I  can  never  repay  you," 
said  he,  "for  I  owe  you  a  debt  that  is  be>  ond  com- 
pensation. You  have  saved  our  lives,  and  have  done 
it  when  you  knew  3"0U  could  get  nothing  for  it.  I  hope 
we  will  meet  again,  and  when  we  do  3  ou  will  be  wel- 
come. If  you  hear  of  me  anywhere,  come  and  see  me, 
for  I  want  to  tell  my  friends  who  Manly  and  Rogers 
are,  and  how  you  helped  us.  Good  Bye!"  There 
were  tears  in  his  e3'es,  voice  full  of  emotion,  and  the 
firm  clasp  of  his  hand  told  how  earnest  he  was,  and  that 
he  felt  more  than  he  could  speak. 

He  helped  Mrs.  Arcane  on  her  horse,  then  gave 
Charlie  to  her,  and ,  amid  waviug  hands  and  many" 
adios  from  our  new-found  friends,  with  repeated  "good 
byes"  from  the  old  ones,  they  rode  away.  Mrs.  Arcane 
could  hardly  speak  when  she  bade  us  fcrewell,  she  was 
so  much  affected.  They^  had  about  sixty-  miles  to  ride 
to  reach  the  sea,  and  as  she  rode  on  a  man's  saddle, 
and  was  unused  to  riding,  I  knew  she  would  be  sadly- 
wearied  before  she  reached  the  coast. 

Our  little  train  now  seemed  much  smaller.  Three 
oxen  and  a  mule  were  all  our  animals,  and  the  adults 
must  still  walk,  as  they  had  done  on  our  desert  route. 
But  we  were  comparativel3r  happy,  for  we  had  plenty 
of  good  meat  to  eat,  plent3'  of  sweet  water  to  drink,  and 
our  animals  were  contented  and  improving  every  day; 
grass  and  water  seemed  plenty  everywhere.  We  put 
our  luggage  on  the  oxen  and  the  mule,  loaded  the 
children  on  Old  Crump  as  we  had  done  before,  and 
were  ready  to  move  again.  Our  good  friends  stood 
around  and  smiled  good-naturedly  at  our  queer  ar- 
rangements, and  we,  not  knowing  how  to  say  what 
our  hearts  would  prompt  us  to,  shook  their  hands  and 
said  good  b3-e  in  answer  to  their  '''adios  amigos"  as  we 
moved  away,  waving  hands  to  each  other. 

The  men  then  detained  me  a  little  while  to  ask  me 


266  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

more  about  the  road  we  had  come  over,  how  far  it  was^ 
and  how  bad  the  Indians  were,  and  other  particulars. 
I  told  him  by  signs  that  we  had  been  twenty-two  days 
on  the  road,  and  that  the  Indi(mos,2iS  they  called  them, 
had  not  troubled  us, but  that  there  was  very  little  grass 
or  water  in  all  that  land.  He  made  a  sort  of  map  on 
the  ground  and  made  me  understand  he  would  like  to 
go  back  and  try  to  bring  out  the  wogons  we  had  left 
behind,  and  he  wanted  me  to  go  back  with  him  and 
help  him.  I  explained  to  him  by  the  map  he  had 
made,  and  one  which  I  made  myself,  that  I  considered 
it  impossible  to  bring  them  over.  He  seemed  much 
disappointed,  and  with  a  shrug  of  his  shoulders  said 
''7nHcho  7!ialo''' {very  hs-d)  and  seemed  to  abandon  the 
idea  of  getting  a  Yankee  wagon.  They  very  much 
admired  an  American  wagon,  for  their  own  vehicles 
were  rude  afifairs,  as  I  shall  bj^e-and-bye  describe.  We 
bade  each  other  many  adios,  and  I  went  on  my  way, 
soon  catching  up  with  the  little  party.  We  had  been 
informed  that  it  was  ten  leagues,  or  thirty  miles  to 
lyOS  Angeles,  whither  we  were  now  headed. 

We  had  now  been  a  whole  year  on  the  road  between 
Wisconsin  and  California,  much  of  the  time  with  the 
ground  for  a  bed,  and  though  our  meals  had  been 
sometimes  scant}'  and  long  between,  very  few  of  us 
had  missed  one  on  account  of  sickness.  Some,  less 
stroug  than  we,  had  lain  down  to  perish,  and  had  been 
left  behind,  without  coffin  or  grave;  bnt  we  were  here, 
and  so  far  had  found  food  to  nourish  us  in  some  degree 
with  prospects  now  of  game  in  the  future  if  nothing 
better  offered.  We  still  talked  of  going  to  the  gold 
mines  on  foot,  for  with  good  food  and  rest  our  courage 
had  returned,  and  we  wanted  to  succeed. 

Our  camp  this  night  was  io  a  nice  watering  place, 
where  dry  oak  wood  was  plenty  and  grass  abundant. 
It  was  at  the  foot  of  the  San  Fernando  Mountain,  not 


I 


DEATH  VALLEY  267 

rocky,  as  we  had  found  our  road  some  time  before,  but 
smooth  and  covered  with  grass.  It  was  rather  steep 
to  climb,  but  an  infant  compared  with  the  great  mount- 
ains so  rough  and  barren,  we  had  climbed  on  our  way 
from  Death  Valley.  Our  present  condition  and  state 
of  mind  was  an  anomalous  one.  We  were  happy,  en- 
courage^,, grateful  and  quite  contented  in  the  plent}^ 
which  surrounded  us,  and  still  there  was  a  sort  of  puz- 
zling uncertainty  as  to  our  future,  the  way  to  which 
seemed  very  obscure.  In  the  past  we  had  pushed  on 
our  very  best  and  a  kind  Providence  had  kept  us. 
This  we  did  now,  but  still  revolved  the  best  plans  and 
the  most  fortunate  possibilities  in  our  minds.  We 
talked  of  the  time  when  we  should  be  able  to  show 
hospitality  to  our  friends,  and  to  strangers  who  might 
need  our  open  hand  as  we  had  needed  the  favors 
which  strangers  had  shown  us  in  the  last  few  days. 

We  ate  our  supper  of  good  meat,  with  a  dessert  of 
good  beans  our  kind  friends  had  given  us,  and  enjoyed 
it  greatly.  As  we  sat  in  silence  a  flock  of  the  prettiest, 
most  graceful  birds  came  ui arching  along,  and  halted 
as  if  to  get  a  better  view  of  our  party.  We  admired 
them  so  much  that  we  made  not  a  move,  but  waited, 
and  they  fearlessly  walked  on  again.  We  could  see 
that  there  were  two  which  were  larger  than  the  rest, 
and  from  twelve  to  twenty  smaller  ones.  The  little 
top-knot  on  the  head  and  their  symmetrical  forms  made 
them  specially  attractive,  and  Mrs.  Bennett  and  the 
children  were  much  pleased.  The  beauty  of  the  Cali- 
fornia quail  is  especially  striking  to  one  who  sees  them 
for  the  first  time. 

In  the  morning  we  began  to  climb  the  hill,  getting 
along  very  well  indeed,  for  our  raw-hide  mocassins 
were  now  dry  and  hard  and  fitted  the  foot  perfectly. 
We  did  not  try  to  make  great  speed,  but  kept  steadily 
on,  and  as  we  were  used  to  climbing,  we  reached  the 


268  DEATH  VALLEY. 

sumiiiu  easily.  From  this  elevation  we  could  get  a 
fine  view  of  the  big  grassy  plain  that  seemed  to  extend 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  and,  not  far  from  us,  the 
buildings  and  gardens  of  the  San  Fernando  Mission. 
If  we  could  shut  out  the  mountains  the  landscape 
would  remind  us  of  a  great  Western  prairie.  We  never 
could  get  over  comparing  this  country  with  the  deso- 
late Death  Valley,  for  it  seemed  as  if  such  strange  and 
striking  opposites  could  hardly  exist. 

We  rested  here  a  little  while  and  then  wound  our 
way  down  the  hill  to  the  level  land.  A  few  miles 
brought  us  to  the  mission  houses  and  the  church  of  San 
Fernando.  There  was  not  much  life  about  them,  in 
fsct  they  seemed  comparatively  deserted,  for  we  saw 
only  one  man  and  a  few  Indians.  The  man  brought 
some  oranges  and  gave  the  children  one  each.  After 
a  little  rest  we  moved  on  over  our  road  which  was  now 
quite  smooth  and  gently  descending.  Night  overtook 
us  in  a  place  where  there  was  no  water,  but  we  camped 
and  suffered  no  inconvenience.  A  stream  was  passed 
next  day,  and  a  house  near  by  unoccupied.  The  road 
now  began  to  enter  gently  rolling  hills  covered  with 
big  grass  and  clover,  which  indicated  rich  soil,  and  we 
never  get  tired  of  talking  about  it. 

At  the  top  of  these  hills  we  had  another  beautiful 
view  as  far  south  and  west  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
Small  objects,  probably  horses  and  cattle,  were  scat- 
tered about  the  plain,  grazing  in  the  midst  of  plenty. 
Our  own  animals  were  given  frequent  opportunities  to 
eat,  and  again  and  again  we  rejoiced  over  the  beauty. 
Of  course  it  was  not  such  a  surprise  and  wonder  as  it 
was  w^hen  such  a  view  first  burst  upon  our  sight,  but 
it  pleased  and  delighted  us  ever.  On  the  east  was 
a  snow-capped  peak,  and  here  we  were  in  the  midst  of 
green  fields  of  grass  and  wild  flowers,  in  the  softest  cli- 
mate of  an  early  spring.     These  strong  contrasts  beat 


DEATH  VALLEY.  269 

anything'  we  had  ever  seen.  Perhaps  the  contrast 
between  the  great  snow  mountain  and  the  hot  Death 
Valley  was  greater  in  point  of  temperature,  but  there 
the  heat  brought  only  barrenness,  and  of  the  two  the 
snow  seemed  the  more  cheerful.  Here  the  vegetation 
of  all  sorts  was  in  full  balance  with  the  balmy  air,  and 
in  comparison  the  snow  seemed  a  strange  neighbor. 
It  was  quite  a  contrast  to  our  cold,  windy  March  in 
Wisconsin,  and  we  wonder  if  it  is  always  summea  here 
We  were  satisfied  that  even  if  we  could  get  no  further 
we  could  live  in  such  a  land  as  this.  The  broad  prairie 
doubtless  belonged  to  the  United  States,  and  we  could 
have  our  share  and  own  a  little  piece  of  it  on  very  easy 
terms,  and  raise  our  own  cattle  and  corn.  If  the  peo- 
ple were  all  as  kind  as  those  we  had  met  we  were  sure 
at  least  of  neighborly  treatment.  I  have  endeavored 
to  write  this  just  as  it  seemed  to  us  then  and  not  clothe 
the  impressions  with  the  cover  of  later  experience. 
The  impressions  we  then  daih^  received  and  the  sights 
we  saw  were  stranger  than  the  wildest  fiction,  and  if  it 
so  strikes  you,  my  friendly  reader,  do  not  wonder. 

As  we  came  over  the  hills  we  could  see  a  village 
near  the  southern  base  and  it  seemed  quite  near  us. 
It  was  a  new  and  strange  sight  to  us  as  we  approached. 
The  houses  were  only  one  story  high  and  seemed  built 
of  mud  of  a  gray  color,  the  roofs  flat,  and  the  streets 
almost  deserted.  Occasionly  a  man  could  be  seen, 
sometimes  a  dog,  and  now  and  then  an  Indian,  sitting 
with  his  back  to  the  house.  The  whole  view  indicated 
a  thinly  populated  place,  and  the  entire  absence  of 
wagons  or  animals  was  a  rather  strange  circumstance 
to  us.  It  occurred  to  us  at  first  that  if  all  the  emi- 
grants were  gone  our  reception  might  be  a  cool  one  in 
this  city  of  mud.  One  thing  was  in  its  favor  and  that 
was  its  buildings  were  about  fire  proof  for  they  had 
earthen  floors  and  flat  roofs. 


270  DEATH  VALLEY. 

We  rested  halfanhouror  sojust  outside,  and  then  ven- 
tured down  the  hill  into  the  street-  We  met  an  Amer- 
ican almost  the  first  man,  and  when  we  asked  about  a 
suitable  camping  place,  he  pointed  out  the  way  and  we 
marched  on.  Our  strange  appearance  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  children  and  they  kept  coming  out  of 
the  houses  to  see  the  curious  little  train  with  Old 
Crump  carrying  the  children  and  our  poor  selves  fol- 
lowing along,  dirty  and  ragged.  Mrs,  Bennett's  dress 
hardly  reached  below  her  knees,  and  although  her 
skirts  were  fringed  about  the  bottom  it  was  of  a  kind 
that  had  not  been  adopted  as  yet  in  general  circle  of 
fCither  Spanish- American  or  good  United  States  society. 
"The  shortness  of  the  dress  made  the  cuiious  raw-hide 
jnocassins  onl}-  the  more  prominent,  and  the  whole 
,make-up  of  the  party  was  a  curious  sight. 

We  went  down  the  hill  a  little  further  to  the  lower 
bottom  to  camp,  while  the  barefooted,  bareheaded  ur- 
chins followed  after  to  get  a  further  look  at  the  stran- 
gers. Before  we  selected  a  suitable  place,  we  saw  two 
tents  and  some  wagons  which  looked  like  those  of 
overland  travelers,  and  we  went  toward  them.  When 
within  fifty  yards  two  men  suddenly  came  to  their  feet 
and  looked  at  our  little  party  approaching  as  if  in 
wonder,  but  at  twenty  steps  they  recognized  Bennett 
and  came  rushing  forward.  "My  Goci !  It's  Bennett" 
said  they,  and  they  clasped  hands  in  silence  while  one 
greeted  Mrs.  Bennett  warmly.  The  meeting  was  so 
unexpected  they  shed  tears  and  quietly  led  the  way 
back  to  camp.  This  was  the  camp  of  R.G.Moody  and 
H.C. Skinner,  with  their  families.  They  had  traveled 
too-ether  on  the  Platte  and  became  well  acquainted,  the 
warmest  of  friends,  and  knowing  that  Bennett  had 
taken  the  cut  off,  they  more  than  suspected  he  and  his 
party  had  been  lost,  as  no  sight  of  them  had  come  to 
their  eves.     They  had  been  waiting  here  six  weeks  in 


DEATH  VAI.I.EY.  271 

order  to  get  some  reliable  news,  and  now  Mr.  Bennet 
answered  for  himself.  Rogers  and  I,  belonging  to 
another  part}-,  were  of  course  strangers. 

Leaving  them  to  compare  notes,  Rogers  and  I  took 
charge  of  Old  Crump,  the  oxen,  and  the  mule,  unpack- 
ed them,  and  arranged  camp  under  a  monstrous  wil- 
low tree.  Bennett  and  his  wife  were  taken  into  Mr. 
Moody's  tent,  and  an  hour  or  so  later  when  Mrs.  Ben- 
nett appeared  again,  she  had  her  face  w^ashed  clean, 
her  hair  combed,  and  a  new  clean  dress.  It  was  the 
first  time  we  had  found  soap,  and  the  improvement  in 
her  looks  and  feelings  was  surprising.  Bennett  looked 
considerably  cleaned  up  too,  and  appeared  bright  and 
fresh.  The  children  had  also  been  taken  in  hand  and 
appeared  in  new  clothes  selected  from  the  wardrobe  of 
the  other  children,  and  the  old  dirty  clothes  were  put 
in  process  of  washing  as  soon  as  possible. 

Supper  came,  and  it  was  so  inviting.  There  was 
real  bread  and  it  looked  so  nice  we  smiled  when  it  was 
offered  to  us.  Mrs.  Bennett  broke  pieces  for  the  child- 
ren and  cautioned  them  not  to  eat  too  much.  It  did 
seem  so  good  to  be  among  friends  we  could  talk  with 
and  be  understood.  After  supper  was  over  and  the 
things  cleared  away  we  all  sat  down  in  a  circle  and 
Bennett  told  the  story  of  where  he  had  been  these 
many  days  on  the  cut  off  that  was  to  shorten  the  traik 
Mr.  Moody  said  he  had  about  given  the  party  up  and 
intended  to  start  up  the  coast  to-morrow.  The  story 
was  so  long  that  they  talked  till  they  were  sleepy  and 
then  began  again  after  breakfast,  keeping  it  up  till 
they  had  a  good  outline  of  all  our  travels  and  tribula- 
tions. This  Mr.  R.  G.  Moody,  his  wife  and  daughter, 
Mrs.  Quinby,  and  son.  Charles,  all  lived  in  San  Jose 
and  are  now  dead.  H.  C  Skinner  was  a  brother-in- 
law  of  Moody  and  also  lived  a  long  time  in  San  Jose, 
but  himself,  son  and  one  daughter,  are  now  dead. 


272  DEATH  VALLEY. 

Rogers  and  I  now  took  the  pack-saddle  we  had  bor- 
rowed of  Mr.  French  to  use  on  our  trip  to  Death  Val- 
ley and  return,  and  carried  it  to  the  saloon  on  the  east 
side  of  the  plaza,  where  we  were  to  place  it  if  we  got 
back  safely,  and  delivered  it  to  the  man  in  charge,  with 
many  thanks  to  Mr.  French  for  his  favors  to  us,  and 
sent  him  word  that  we  would  always  remember  him 
and  be  ready  to  do  him  a  similar  or  equal  favor  if  ever 
we  were  able.  We  considered  him  a  good  benevolent 
man,  and  such  he  proved  to  be  when  he  offered  us  fat 
oxen,  good  beans,  and  an}-  other  thing  we  needed. 
He  told  tha  people  in  the  house  who  we  were,  which 
no  doubt  influenced  them  kindly  in  our  favor  when  we 
arrived. 

At  the  saloon  there  was  a  large  room  with  tables  in 
it  and  gambli!ig  going  on  actively.  Money  changed 
hands  verj-  rapidly,  drinks  at  the  bar  were  frequent, 
and  the  whole  affair  moved  forward  with  the  same  reg- 
ularity as  any  mercantile  business.  The  door  stood 
wide  opc;n  and  any  one  could  come  and  go  at  his 
pleasure.  Quite  a  number  of  black-eyed,  fair  looking 
women  circulated  among  the  crowd,  and  this  ,to  us, 
seemed  quite  out  of  place,  for  we  had  never  seen  wo- 
men in  saloons  before.  We  watched  the  game  awhile 
to  see  some  losing  and  some  gaining,  the  result  being 
quite  exciting;  but  as  neither  of  us  had  any  money,  we 
could  not  have  joined  in  the  game  had  we  been  so  dis- 
posed; so  we  looked  on  awhile  and  th^a  took  a  seat 
on  the  ground  outside  of  the  house. 

Here  we  talked  o\'er  our  chances  of  getting  to  the 
mines.  All  the  clothes  we  had  were  on  our  backs  and 
feet  and  those  were  the  poorest  of  the  poor.  We  had 
no  money.  I  had  the  little  black-e3'ed  mule,  and 
Rogers  had  the  watch  Arcane  had  given  him.  Mr. 
Mood}"  had  said  it  was  503  miles  to  San  Francisco,  and 
150  miles  further  to  the  mines,  so  that  after  the  hard 


DEATH  VALLEY  273 

travel  of  a  year  we  were  still  a  long  way  off  from  the 
place  we  started  for. 

We  could  not  see  an/  wa}-  to  make  a  living  here. 
There  was  no  land  cultivated,  not  a  fence,  nothing  to 
require  labor  of  any  kind.  The  valley  vvas  rich  enough 
and  produced  great  crops  of  grass,  and  the  cattle  and 
horses  we  had  seen  grazing  seemed  to  be  about  all  the 
use  chey  put  it  to.  It  looked  as  if  the  people  must  live 
principally  on  meat.  I  thought  if  we,  could  manage  to 
get  a  little  provision  together,  such  as  flour  and  beans, 
that  I  could  pack  there  on  the  mule,  and  I  was  pretty 
sure  I  could  find  game  that  would  be  better  meat  than 
we  had  lived  on  during  the  last  two  months  on  the 
desert. 

We  looked  around  to  see  if  we  could  find  something  to 
do  to  earn  a  little  for  a  start,  but  were  not  successful. 
In  our  walk  about  this  city  of  mud  we  saw  many 
things  that  seemed  strange  to  us  There  were  more 
women  than  men,  and  more  children  than  grown-up 
people,  while  the  dogs  were  plenty.  At  the  edge  of 
the  town,  near  the  river  were  some  grape  vines  fenced 
in  with  living  willows,  interlaced  in  some  places  with 
dry  vines.  The  Indians  moved  very  moderately  around 
and  no  doubt  had  plenty  of  beef  to  eat,  with  very  few 
wants  to  provide  for.  We  noticed  some  few  people 
pa^'ing  for  small  things  at  the  stores  with  small  money. 
The  women  all  dressed  much  alike.  The  dress  was  of 
some  cheap  materia!,  sandals  on  feet,  and  a  kind  of 
long  shawl  worn  over  the  head  and  thrown  over  the 
shoulder.  There  seemed  to  be  neither  hoops  nor  cor- 
sets in  their  fashions.  The  men  wore  trousers  of 
white  cotton  or  linen,  with  a  calico  shirt,  sandals,  and 
a  broad  rimmed  snuff  colored  hat.  The  Indians  and 
their  wives  went  bareheaded. 

Near  the  end  of  the  street  we  came  to  a  boarding 
house  and  went  in  and  sat  down  in  the  empty  room. 


274  DEATH  VALLEY. 

Soon  a  man  cama  in,  better  dressed  than  ourselves, 
and  much  to  our  surprise  it  was  one  of  the  old  Death 
Valley  travelers,  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Brier  whom  I  last 
saw  in  his  lone  camp  in  the  desert,  discoursing  to  his 
young  sons  on  the  benefits  of  an  early  education.  I 
know  the  situation  struck  me  very  strangely,  with 
death  staring  them  in  the  face  and  he  preaching! 

We  had  a  long  talk  about  the  hard  journey  we  had 
each  experienced.  As  his  party  had  not  waited  they 
had  come  through  ahead  of  us.  He  said  himself  and 
Mr.  Granger  had  started  a  boarding  house  when  they 
arrived,  and  had  been  doing  a  good  business.  He  said 
that  as  long  as  the  emigrants  continued  to  come  he 
could  get  along  very  well.  We  asked  him  if  there 
was  any  chance  for  ns  to  work  and  get  money  to  get 
some  provisions  to  help  us  on  the  way  to  the  mines. 
He  said  he  could  give  work  to  one  of  us  hauling  water 
for  the  house  with  oxen  and  cart,  and  the  one  who 
could  manage  oxen  was  the  man.  I  was  an  ox  driver 
and  so  told  him  I  would  take  his  team  and  cart  and 
set  out  with  the  work.  He  said  he  could  pay  fifty 
dollars  a  month,  and  I  accepted  the  offer  quickly  as  I 
saw  it  was  a  good  chance  to  build  up  my  exhausted 
strength  and  flesh. 

I  turned  the  little  mule  out  in  the  hills  near  by,  and 
began  my  work.  It  was  net  hard,  for  the  boarders 
were  thinning  out.  The  natives  did  not  patronize  this 
hotel  very  much,  but  grub  disappeared  pretty  fast 
at  my  corner  of  the  table,  for  my  appetite  began  to  be 
ravenous.  There  was  not  much  variety  to  the  food 
and  very  few  luxuries  or  delicacies,  which  were  hard 
to  obtain  on  such  a  bare  market,  but  all  seemed  satis- 
fied with  the  food,  and  to  me  it  tasted  extra  good. 

Rogers  went  back  to  the  old  camp  and  helped  them 
there,  and  I  often  went  over  after  dark,  when  my  work 
was  done.     Moody  and  Skinner    had    been    active    in 


DEATH  VALLEY.  275 

trying  to  get  Mr.  Bennett  ready  to  go  up  the  coast 
with  them.  Bennett  had  sold  his  repeating  rifle  and 
with  the  proceeds  and  the  help  of  his  friends  had  got 
another  ox,  making  two  yoke  for  him.  They  fixed 
up  a  wagon  for  him,  and  yokes  enough  could  be  found 
where  people  had  traded  off  their  oxen  for  horses. 
Provisions  enough  had  been  gathered  by  Moody  and 
Skinner  for  them  all,  and  Rogers  would  go  along  with 
the  party  to  help  them  with  the  teams. 

I  was  left  alone  after  they  started,  and  it  w^as  my 
idea  to  quit  when  I  had  worked  a  month,  and  if  my 
mule  staid  with  me,  to  start  for  the  mines  even  if  I 
went  alone.  The  majority  of  the  male  inhabitants  of 
this  town  had  gone  to  the  mines,  and  this  accounted 
for  the  unusual  proportion  of  w^omen.  We  learned 
that  they  w^ould  return  in  November,  and  then  the 
gambling  houses  would  start  up  in  full  blast,  for  these 
native  Californians  seemed  to  have  a  great  natural  de- 
sire to  indulge  in  games  of  chance,  and  while  playing 
their  favorite  game  of  monte  would  lay  down  their  last 
reale  (12^  cents)  in  the  hope  of  winning  the  money 
in  sight  before  them  on  the  table. 

As  the  boarding  house  business  got  dull  I  was  taken 
over  to  a  vineyard  and  set  to  work,  in  place  of  hauling 
water.  The  entire  patch  was  as  green  as  a  meadow 
with  weeds,  and  I  was  expected  to  clean  them  out.  I 
inquired  of  Brier  how  he  came  to  get  hold  of  this  :;icc 
property,  and  he  said  that  during  the  war  the  soldiers 
had  taken  possession  of  this  piece  of  ground,  and  had 
their  camp  here,  so  he  considered  it  was  government 
land,  and  tberefore  had  squatted  on  it  and  was  going 
to  hold  it,  and  pay  for  it  as  regular  government  land, 
and  that  he  already  considered  it  his  own,  for  said  he, 
"  I  am  an  American,  and  this  is  a  part  of  the  public 
domain. "  "All  right, ' '  said  I,  "I  will  kill  weeds  for 
you,  if  you  wish,  when  I  have  time  to  spare,  and  you 


276  DEATH  VALLEY. 

don't  want  the  oxen    worked   at  any    other    work  ". 

I  could  see  every  day  that  I  was  improving  in  health 
and  weight  and  would  soon  become  myself  again,  able 
to  take  the  road  to  the  mines.  When  about  two 
weeks  of  my  time  had  expired  two  oldish  men  came 
to  the  house  to  stop  for  a  few  days  and  reported  them- 
selves as  from  Sacramento,  buying  np  some  horses  for 
that  market.  Thus  far  they  had  purchased  only  six 
or  eight,  as  they  had  found  the  price  too  high  to  buy 
and  then  drive  so  far  to  a  market  to  sell  again.  They 
had  about  decided  to  go  back  with  what  they  had  and 
undertake  some  other  kind  of  business.  I  thought 
this  would  be  a  prettj'  good  chance  for  me  to  go,  as  I 
would  have  company,  and  so  went  to  Brier  and  Gran- 
ger and  told  them  what  I  would  like  to  do,  and  that 
with  their  permission  I  would  quit  and  go  on  with 
them.  They  readily  consented,  for  their  monej-  wa.-. 
coming  in  rather  slow,  and  they  paid  me  twenty  five 
dollars  for  half  a  month's  work.  This  made  me  feel 
pretty  rich,  and  I  thought  this  would  give  me  food 
enough  to  reach  the  mines. 

Having  two  or  three  days  to  get  ready  in,  I  began 
doing  the  best  I  could.  I  found  an  old  saddle  tree 
which  had  been  thrown  away,  and  managed  to  iix  il 
up  so  I  could  use  it.  I  also  found  an  old  gun  some 
traveler  had  left,  and  with  a  little  work  I  fitted  the 
breech  of  that  to  my  own  gun  which  was  broken,  and 
had  been  roughl}^  tied  together  with  strips  of  raw-hide. 
I  now  had  a  good  sound  gun  if  it  was  not  very  hand- 
some. I  bought  a  Spanish  blanket,  not  so  wide  as 
ours,  but  coarse  and  strong,  and  having  a  hole  in  the 
center  through  which  to  put  the  head  and  wear  it  as  a 
garment  in  case  of  storm,  or  at  night.  I  went  to  a 
native  store  and  bought  a  supply  of  carne  seca  (dried 
beef  )  and  some  crackers,  put  some  salt  in  my  pocket 
and  was  now  provisioned  for  another  trip.     I    found 


DEATH  VALLEY.  277 

my  mule  in  the  hills  back  of  town,  not  far  from  where 
I  left  her,  and  the  rest  and  good  feed  had  made  her 
look  better  and  feel  better,  as  well  as  mj'self. 

Thedrovers  had  found  two  other  men  who  wanted  to 
go  with  them  and  help  drive  the  horses  for  their  board. 
I  put  my  blanket  on  under  the  saddle,  packed  my  little 
sack  of  meat  and  crackers  on  behind,  and  when  I  was 
in  the  saddle  with  my  gun  before  me  1  considered  I 
was  pretty  well  fixed  and  able  to  make  my  way  against 
almost  anything.  I  said  to  myself  that  the  only  way 
now  to  keep  me  from  getting  to  the  gold  mines  was  to 
kill  me.  I  felt  that  there  was  not  a  mountain  so  high 
I  could  not  climb,  and  no  desert  so  wide  and  dry  that 
I  conld  not  cross  it.  I  had  walked  and  starved  and 
choked  and  lived  through  it,  and  nov/  I  felt  so 
strong  and  brave  I  could  do  it  again  —  any  way  to 
reach  the  gold  mines  and  get  some  of  the  '  'dust. 

I  had  not  much  idea  how  the  gold  from  the  mines 
looked.  Everybody  called  it  gold  dust,  and  that  con- 
veyed an  idea  to  me  that  it  was  fine  as  flour,  but  how 
to  catch  it  I  did  not  know-.  I  knew  other  people  found 
a  way  to  get  it,  and  I  knew  I  could  learn  if  any  body 
could.  It  was  a  great  longing  that  came  to  me  to  see 
some  of  the  yellow  dust  in  its  native  state,  before  it 
had  been  through  the  mint. 

At  the  last  meal  I  took  at  the  house  there  were  only 
a  few  at  the  table.  Among  them  was  a  well  dressed 
Californian  who  evidently  did  not  greatly  fancy  Amer- 
ican cooking,  but  got  along  very  well  till  Mrs.  Brier 
brought  around  the  dessert,  a  sort  of  duff".  This  the 
Californian  tasted  a  few  times  and  then  laid  down  his 
spoon  saying  it  was  no  bueno,  and  some  other  words 
\  did  not  then  understand,  but  afterward  learned  that 
they  meant  "too  much  grease."  The  fellow^  left  the 
table  not  well  pleased  with  what  we  generally  consider 
the  best  end  of  a  Yankee  dinner,  the  last  plate. 


278 


DEATH  VAIvLEY. 


While  here  I  had  slept  in  a  small  store  room,  where 
I  made  my  pallet  out  of  old  rags  and  blankets.  While 
I  was  looking  round  for  material  to  make  mj-  bed  I 
came  across  a  bag  partly  full  of  sugar,  brought  from 
Chili.  It  was  in  very  coarse  crystals,  some  as  large 
as  corn.  There  were  some  other  treasures  end  luxur- 
ies there  that  perhaps  I  was  expected  guard.  I  how- 
ever had  a  sweet  tooth  and  a  handful  or  so  of  the 
sweet  crystals  found  their  way  into  my  pocket 

I  bade  Mr,  Brier  and  the  rest  good  bye  and  rode 
away  to  j  oin  my  company. 


DEATH  VAT.IvEY.  279 


CHAPTER     XII 

[Leaving  the  little  party  waose  wanderings  we  have 
followed  so  closely,  safely  arrived  in  Los  Angeles, 
their  further  history  in  California  will  be  taken  up 
later  on,  and  this  narrative  will  go  back  to  points 
when  the  original  party  was  broken  up  and  trace  the 
little  bands  in  their  varied  experience.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  the  author  and  his  friends,  after  a 
perilous  voyage  down  Green  River,  halted  at  the  camp 
of  the  Indian  chief,  Walker,  and  there  separated,  the 
Author  and  four  companions  striking  for  Salt  Lake, 
while  Mc  Mahon  and  Field  remained  behind,  fully 
determined  to  go  on  down  the  river. 

The  story  of  these  two  meu   is    told   b}'  Mc  Mahon 
in  the  following  interesting  letter.  ] 


Dear  Manley: — 

Yours  requesting  me  to  give  you  a 
synopsis  of  the  history  of  incidents,  experience,  and 
observations  of  our  mutual  friend,  Richard  Field  and 
my.self,  from  t-he  time  you,  John  Rogers,  Alfred  Wal- 
ton, and  the  Hazelrig  brothers  left  us  at  the  camp  of 
the  generous  old  chief  Walker  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
river  near  the  mouth  of  the  "great  seven  days  caiion" 
is  at  hand. 

You  no  doubt  distinctly,  and  with  pleasure,  remem- 
ber that  unbroken  friendship  which  existed  among  us 
up  to  the  time  of  our  separation  and  that  we  parted 
warm  and  tried  friends. 

Well,  after  you  and  your  companions  had  left  us  we 
set  to  work  to  prepare  the  canvas  for  the  continuation 
of  the  voyage  down  the  river.  We  drilled  holes 
through  the  sides  of  thi  "Pilot" — you,  I  have  no 
doubt  remember  which  that  was,   5'ours  and  mine,   in 


28o  DKATH  VAIvlvEY. 

which  we  took  so  many  fearful  risks,  and  "No.  2," 
so  that  we  might  in  case  of  necessity  lash  the  two  to- 
gether. After  a  day  or  two  Field  lost  courage  and 
finally  determined  to  go  no  further  down  the  river. 
Walker  in  the  meantime  had  repeated  his  friendly 
warnings  appertaining  to  the  great  danger  in  going 
further  down  the  river.  You  will  remember  what  he 
had  told  us  about  it  before  you  left  us. 

You  know  that  I  was  the  biggest  coward  of  the 
whole  seven ;  but  I  assumed  courage  and  told  Field 
that  I  would  go  down  the  river  alone;  and,  for  a  time, 
I  thought  I  would  do  so;  but  after  some  reflection  I 
concluded  that,  perhaps,  discretion  was  the  better  part 
valor,  and  reluctantly  gave  it  up.  We  now  decided 
to  follow  you,  or  to  take  some  other  unknown  route 
aud  trv  to  make  our  escape  out  of  this  most  perilous 
condition. 

We  then  set  about,  as  you  had  done,  to  trade  with 
Walker  for  a  pony  or  two,  and  after  much  dickering 
Field  succeeded  in  getting  the,  afterwards  famous,  big, 
old,  sore-backed  mule.  You  may  not  remember  him, 
but  I  do;  and,  notwithstanding  his  sore  back,  he  made 
pretty  good  beef.  I,  with  pins,  needles,  thread,  a 
pocket-knife,  a  handkerchief,  etc.,  succeeded  in  get- 
ting a  very  nice,  round,  three-year-old,  iron-gray 
pony. 

After  making  pack-saddles,  and  getting  almost  ready 
to  start,  we  were,  through  Walker's  kindness  and 
persuasiveness,  overcome,  and  consented  to  go  with 
him,  feeling  confident  that  we  would  not  starve  to 
death  while  with  him.  We  did  not  now  have  Manley 
with  his  loiig  experience,  and  his  old  rusty,  but  always 
trusty,  rifle  as  a  sure  defence  against  possible  hunger 
and  starvation. 

The  old  chief,  and,  in  fact,  the  whole  tribe,  seemed 
pleased  when  we  consented  to  go  with  them.     Prepar- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  281 

ations  were  now  made ,  and  all  except  the  horses  and 
four  head  of  cattle,  was  conveyed  across  the  river  in 
the  two  canoes  which  were  lashed  together,  while  the 
horses  and  cattle  were  forced  to  swim  to  the  other  side 
where  we  camped  for  the  night.  Next  morning  the 
clever  old  chief  had  two  good  horses  fitted  up  in  good 
style  for  Field  and  1,  which  we  rode  all  of  the  nine 
days  that  we  remained  with  the  band,  while  our  own 
run  with  the  herd.  Our  baggage  was  carried  on  some 
of  the  chief's  pack-horses.  We  were,  in  fact,  his  hon- 
ored guests,  as  will  hereafter  appear. 

All  were  soon  mounted  and  off  to  the  buffalo  fields, 
Walker  having  informed  us  that  he  intendec'  going  up 
into  the  buffalo  country  on  the  head-waters  of  Grand 
River  where  he  would  remain  until  snow  fell,  when 
he  would  go  to  Salt  Lake  City,  or  vicinity. 

Leaving  the  river,  we  set  out  across  a  not  entirely 
barren  plain,  for  there  was  much  sage-brush,  and 
several  varieties  of  cactus.  Towards  evening  we  came 
close  up  to  the  foot  of  a  range  of  rugged,  rocky  mount- 
ains, where  we  found  water  and  camped  for  the  night. 
I'ield  and  I  usually  pitched  our  little  muslin  tent 
so.mewhere  near  our  friends  where  we  could  sleep 
without  fear  of  man  or  beast,  for  I  think  some  one  of 
the  reds  was  always  on  guard. 

All  went  well  for  four  or  five  days,  when  we  all  got 
entirely  out  of  food  except  a  few  ounces  of  flour  which 
we  had  hidd'en  away  for  a  possible  emergency.  Dur- 
ing the  follov\'ing  two  days  and  nights  all  were  entirely 
without  food  e  xcept  the  two  little  children,  whom  you 
no  doubt  remember.  We  gave  their  mother  a  little 
flour  now  and  thCxU  which  she  mixed  with  a  little  milk 
which  one  of  the  cows  afforded,  for  the  little  ones. 
These  Indians  did  not  seem  to  suffer  for  want  of  food ; 
even  when  we  were  starving,  they  appeared  happy 
and  contented;  and  onie  young  fellow  would  sing   all 


282  DEATH  VAIvI^EY. 

day  long  while  we  were  starving.  Daring  the  sec- 
ond da}'  of  starv^ation  and  hard  traveling  over  hot  and 
barren  deserts,  the  Indians  killed  a  wild-cat  and  two 
small  rabbits.  We  got  nothing.  You  will  remember 
that  all  the  arms  of  the  seven  men  were  lost  in  the 
river  when  the  canoes  were  sunk,  except  your  rifle 
and  my  double  barreled  shot-  gun  and  revolver,  so  that 
Field  and  I  had  only  the  one  gun,  and  neither  of  us 
knew  anything  about  hunting.  When  we  camped, 
one  of  the  boys  brought  over  to  our  tent  a  quarter  of 
the  cat,  which  was  more  than  a  fair  share  of  the  whole 
supply,  as  twentj^-two  of  them  had  only  the  two  little 
rabbits  and  three  quarters  of  the  unfortunate  cat.  we 
iboiled  and  boiled  and  boiled  that  cat's  hind  leg,  but 
never  got  it  done.  We  waited  as  long  as  we  possibly 
could,  gave  up  in  despair  an i  pat  a  little  flour  into 
the  broth  to  thicken  it,  and  drank  it.  It  was  not  good, 
but  much  better  the  meat  of  the  cat.  That  cat  and 
the  rabbits  were  all  the  twenty-four  of  us  had  to  eat, 
after  fasting  two  days,  until  late  in  the  evening  of  the 
next   day. 

My  people  were  rtligious,  and  when  I  was  young^ 
the  famil}'  was  wont  to  observe  fast  days,  but  never 
did  we  have  any  such  long  fasts  as  these  were.  In  the 
afternoon  of  the  next  day  the  old  chief  left  the  caxavan 
and  went  on  ahead  of  the  train  toward  a  cbain  of 
mountains,  first  giving  some  directions  to  the  band, 
and  taking  one  son  with  him.  When  we  arrived  in  a 
small  canon  in  the  edge  of  the  momntaiiis  we  found 
them  with  a  fine  mountain  sheep  which  t'h'^y  had  killed 
and  brought  down  to  the  dim,  little-u.sed  trail  where 
we  camped;  and  after  we  had  set  up/  our  little  tent  as 
usual,  a  short  distance  away  from  our  friends,  one  of 
the  young  men  brought  to  us  abo'at  one  fourth  of  the 
sheep,  while  the  twenty-two  Indians  had  the  rest. 

You  know  that  a  good-sized  m.ountain  sheep  would 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  283 

make  a  fair  supper  tor  twenty-four  people,  even  though 
they  had  been  starving  three  or  four  days;  but  this 
was  a  small  one,  and  I  think  Field  and  I  ate  about 
half  of  the  quarter.  The  twenty-two  Indians  soon  de- 
voured the  three- fourths  and  all  of  the  soft  viscera, 
including  the  stomach  and  intestines,  after  which  some 
of  the  boys  came  to  our  tent  while  we  were  stuffing 
our,  what  had  been  for  several  days  empty,  stomachs. 
We  offered  them  part  of  our  bounteous  supply  of  mut- 
ton, having  much  more  than  we  could  eat;  but  no, 
they  would  not  touch  it  until  we  were  filled  full,  when 
they  accepted  what  was  left,  and  soon  stowed  it  away. 
All  were  now  pretty  well  filled  up  once  more. 

The  next  da}^  was  spent  without  food,  traveling 
over  rough  mouutains.  Within  a  pass,  late  in  the 
afternoon,  we  crossed  the  fresh  trail  of  some  other 
band  of  roving  red-skins,  and  Walker  suspected  who 
they  were,  end  went  into  camp  earlj-.  The  Indians 
had  killed  nothing  that  day,  but  I  had  killed  a  small 
rabbit  which,  unfortunately  for  it,  came  in  my  way 
during  the  day.  This  we  offered  to  the  women  for 
themselves  and  the  little  children;  but  they  positively 
refused  to  accept  it,  insisting  that  they  did  not  want 
it  or  need  it,  and  that  the  small  supply  of  milk  from 
the  cow  was  quite  sufficient  for  the  little  ones,  and 
the  others  spurned  the  offer  to  divide  so  little  a  thing, 
so  we  had  it  all  to  ourselves. 

It  appeared  that  these  people  were  accustomed  to  go 
for  long  periods  without  food,  and  with  little  apparent 
inconvenience;  but  Field  and  I  began  to  feel  as  I  sup- 
pose Dr.  Tanner  felt  after  a  few  days'  fasting,  and  be- 
gan to  wish  that  the  old  chief  would  get  hungry  and 
kill  one  of  his  large,  fat  steers,  but  he  still  held  them 
in  reserve. 

Early  the  next  morning,  now  nine  days  from  the 
time  we  had  left  the  river,  the  old  chief  took  two    of 


284  DEATH  VALLEY. 

the  young  men  and  left  camp,  as  we  afteiwards 
learned,  to  go  in  search  of  the  Indians  whose  trail  we 
had  crossed  the  evening  before.  vSome  time  in  the 
earl}^  part  of  the  night,  one  of  the  young  men  returned 
and  informed  us  that  they  had  found  the  wandering 
tribe,  and  that  we  were  to  go  back  to  their  trail  and 
follow  it  to  their  camp  up  in  a  Southeast  direction, 
Walker  and  one  of  the  young  men  having  remained 
with  their  new-found  friends. 

Field  and  I  both  felt  greatly  disappointed  in  not 
being  able  to  proceed  north;  and  in  the  meantime  we 
had  become  very  tired  of  the  society  of  these  people, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  were  exceedingly 
clever;  but  we  were  almost  starved  to  death,  and  had 
about  come  to  the  conclusion  that  we  would  be  obliged 
to  make  some  change.  We  were  still  on  the  east  side 
of,  and  considerable  distance  from  the  river,  and  prob- 
ably not  more  than  one  hundred,  or  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  from  the  place  where  we  parted  from 
you. 

The  chief  had  sent  particular  instructions  for  us  to 
go  with  the  tribe;  but,  after  canvassing  the  whole  sit- 
uation, we  decided  to  part  company  with  our  good 
friends,  proceed  northward,  and  try  to  reach  Fort 
Bridger  or  some  other  settlement  in  the  northwest, 
and  so  informed  them,  and  requested  the  boys  to  bring 
in  our  mule  and  horse,  which  they  did  after  failing  to 
induce  us  to  go  with  them. 

Bright  and  early  the  next  morning,  they  all,  even 
the  polygamous  wives  and  little  children,  in  apparent 
sorrow,  bade  us  good-bye,  and  were  off,  leaving  us 
alone  with  our  two  poor,  lonely,  four-footed  compan- 
ions, who  were  very  anxious  to  follow  the  band  of 
horses.  After  the  rather  melancholy  parting  we  ar- 
ranged our  packs,  and  about  ten  o'clock  started  out 
on  what  then  seemed,  and  and  afterwards   proved,  to 


DEATH  VALLEY.  285 

be  a  perilous  voj'age  through  deserts,  and  over  rough 
mountains.  To  avoid  a  high  range  of  mountains,  our 
course  was  for  a  time  northeast  but,  after  passing  that 
range  we  bore  to  the  northwest. 

The  days  were  quite  warm,  but  the  nights  were  cold. 
During  the  first  day  we  killed  and  ate  one  small  rab- 
bit, and  this,  with  a  few  seed  buds  gathered  from  wild 
rose  bushes,  constituted  two  days'  rations.  On  the 
third  we  did  not  have  even  the  rabbit  or  rose  seed 
buds,  but  late  in  the  afternoon  we  found  some  small 
red  berries,  similar  in  appearance  to  what  I,  in  my 
childhood,  knew  and  relished  as  Solomon's  seal  berries. 
I  being  a  natural  coward,  and  fearing  that  they  might 
poison  me,  did  not  eat  a.13'  of  them,  but  generously 
allowed  my  good  friend  to  eat  them  all. 

We  had  now  been  almost  entirely  without  water  for 
two  days  and  nights.  When  night  came  on  we  pick- 
eted our  animals  in  a  grass  plot  and  lay  down  near 
them  to  see  that  they  did  not  get  tangled  in  the  ropes 
and  hurt,  or  that  some  red  skin,  not  having  the  fear 
of  the  Lord  in  his  heart,  did  not  come  and  take  tliem 
away.  About  ten  o'clock  ni}-  companion  began  to 
complain  of  pain  in  his  stomach  and  bowels,  and  was 
soon  vomiting  at  a  fearful  rate;  so  violenth-,  indeed, 
that  I  was  apprehensive  that  he  might  die.  If  I  had 
had  an  emetic  I  would  have  given  it  to  him  to  have 
assisted  nature  in  pumping  those  devilish  little  red 
berries  out  of  him,  for  I  felt  quite  sure  that  they  were 
the  cause  of  his  illness.  Perhaps  it  was  fortunate  that 
there  wa=  no  medecine  at  hand,  for  if  there  had  been 
I  might  have  killed  him  with  it. 

He  suffered  most  intensely,  and  s<~'on  became  verj- 
thirsty,  and,  there  being  no  water  within  many  miles 
of  us,  he  appealed  to  me  to  bleed  one  of  the  animals 
and  let  him  drink  the  blood;  I  refused:  he  insisted;  I 
again   refused:  he    commanded;    I  still  refused.       He 


286  DEATH  VALLEY. 

swore,  and  called  me  almost  everything  except  a  good 
Christian;  he  even  expressed  the  wish  that  I.  his  friend, 
might  be  sent  to  a  certain  place  where  the  heat  is  most 
intense,  and  the  fire  is  never  quenched. 

At  about  eleven  o'clock,  when  his  pains  were  most 
severe,  a  dark  cloud,  the  first  we  had  seen  for  months, 
came  over  us,  and  a  little  rain  began  to  fall,  when  I  at 
once  openad  our  little  camp  kettle  and  turned  the  lid 
upside  down,  and  into  both  kettle  and  lid  there  fell 
perhaps  two  or  three  teaspoonfuls  of  pure  water,  every 
drop  of  which  I  gave  to  the  sufferer,  whereupon  he 
expressed  thanks  for  another  God-send,  and  at  once; 
apologized  for  bestowing  unmerited  abuse  on  me.  He 
afterwards  often  asserted  that  he  believ^ed  that  the  little 
rain-cloud  was  sent  by  God  for  his  special  benefit,  and 
that  the  water  caught  from  that  cloud  was  the  sweet- 
est and  best  that  he  had  ever  tasted.  I  did  not  doubt 
the  latter  half  of  thp  above  statement,  but  I  did  have 
some  doubt  about  the  truth  of  the  former  half  when  I 
called  to  mind  the  scene  which  followed  my  refusal  to 
bleed  the  horse.  Whether  the  small  quantitj^  of  w^ater 
gave  him  much  relief,  or  not,  I  do  not  know,  but  I  do 
know  that  he  soon  became  better  and  slept  some  while 
I  watched.  He  was  quite  feeble  next  morning  when 
I  put  him  on  the  old  sore-backed  mule,  where  he  rode 
most  of  the  time  for  the  next  four  days,  while  the  lit- 
tle horse  carried  our  baggage,  and  I  led  the  way  as 
usual,  on  foot. 

For  four  da3'S  from  the  time  Field  ate  the  little  red 
berries  we  did  not  have  a  drop  of  water  except  the  two 
or  three  teaspoonfuls  which  the  stingy  cloud  left  to 
save  the  life  of  the  "berry-eater."  We  were  still  on 
the  desert,  or  in  the  mountains  east  of  the  river,  trav- 
eling hard  during  the  da}-,  and  burning  up  with  fever 
n  the  night.  There  was  plenty  of  drying  grass  in 
places,  but  our  poor  animals  could  not  eat  it  any  longer, 


I 


DKATH  VALIvEY.  287 

for  they,  too,  weie  burning  up  for  want  of  water.  Oh, 
how  much  I  did  wish  that  we  had  some  camels  from 
Arabia,  which  could  have  gone  so  much  longer  with- 
out water,  and  traveled  so  much  faster. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  of  starvation,  we 
determined  to  change  our  course,  and,  if  possible, 
reach  the  river  once  more.  Bearing  to  the  left  over  a 
high,  barren  range  of  rocky  mountains,  and  down  into 
a  plain  of  sand,  sage  brush,  and  cactus.  During  the 
afternoon  I  shot  a  small  rabbit,  not  much  larger  than 
a  rat,  which  we  carried  until  night,  then  broiled  and 
tried  to  eat  it,  not  because  our  apetites  craved  it,  but 
hoping  that  it  might  strengthen  and  sustain  us,  at 
least  a  little  while  longer.  We  were,  however,  so 
nearly  burned  up  that  there  was  not  a  sufficient  flow  of 
saliva  to  moisten  the  little  bits  of  broiled  meat  in  the 
mouth.  Late  that  afternoon  we  fancied  that  our  fast 
failing  brute  companions  scented  water,  or  that  they 
instinctively  knew  that  it  was  not  far  away.  They 
would  raise  their  heads,  and  extend  their  noses  as  if 
smelling,  while  their  physical  force  and  energy  seemed 
renewed,  and  they  certainly  traveled  faster. 

That  night  we  ate  the  little,  as  before  stated,  more 
as  a  duty  than  as  a  pleasure.  There  was  some  green 
grass  round  about  where  we  camped,  or,  more  properly 
speaking,  where  we  lay,  for  we  did  not  erect  our  little 
tent, —  but  the  poor  starving  animals  did  not  eat  a 
bite  of  it,  but  stood  over  us  as  if  in  sympathy  with  us 
in  our  deplorable  condition.  We  rose  before  the  sun, 
being  somewhat  rested  and  refreshed,  for  the  night 
had  been  cool,  and  took  up  our  line  of  march,  I,  as 
usual,  in  the  lead,  then  came  the  old  mule  guided  by 
its  precious  owner,  and  lastly,  the  faithful  little  horse 
with  the  pack  on  his  still  quite  round  back; — on  over 
the  still  dry  and  barren  plain  we  went,  withotit  a 
Moses,  cloud,  or  pillar  of  fire  to  lead  us. 


288  DEATH  VALLEY. 

About  ten  o'clock,  through  the  hot  glimner  of  the 
<iowu-pouriug  raj^s  of  the  sun,  we  saw  what  appeared, 
and  afterwards  pioved,  to  be  a  clump  of  cottonwood 
trees.  Our  hopes  and  courage  were  renewed,  for  we 
well  knew  the  cottonwood  usually  grows  near  flow- 
ing water.  There  was  no  beaten  pathway,  no  signs 
of  animal  life,  no  quails,  no  manna  in  that  desert;  but 
on  we  went,  almost  without  a  halt,  and  at  one  o'clock 
leached  the  cottonwood  grove,  immediately  on  the 
bank  of  the  great  river  down  which  we  had  floated  in 
our  canoes  more  than  a  month  before.  On  reaching 
the  bank  of  the  river  we  recognized  objects  which  we 
had  seen  while  on  our  way  down. 

We  remembered  that  both  men  and  horses  might  be 
Avater-foundered,  and  that  self-preservation  is  said  to 
be  the  first  law  of  nature;  but  it  was  difiicult  to  pre- 
vent the  famishing  brutes  from  plunging  into  the  river. 
We  allowed  them  to  take  only  a  small  quantity  at 
first,  and  each  of  us  took  only  a  small  cupful;  then 
after  a  little  time  all  took  more,  and  the  thirst  was 
soon  quenched.  We  were  surprised  to  find  how  little 
water  it  took  to  satisfy  the  raging  thirst  of  four  days 
of  continued  fasting.  The  animals,  after  taking  com- 
paratively small  quantities,  seemed  satisfied,  and  went 
off  in  search  of  grass. 

We  now  had  an  abundance  of  water,  but  we  well 
knew  that  water  alone  would  not  sustain  life  very 
long:  therefore  our  next,  and  most  serious  business 
was  to  determine  how  to  prolong  our  lives.  Accord- 
ing to  our  map,  our  recollections  of  diS"erent  objects, 
and  present  appearances  we  were  now  a  little  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Uinta  river  which  conies  in  from  the 
northwest,  all  of  which  proved  true.  Our  little  map 
pictured  Fort  Uinta  on  the  Uhita  river  about  one  hun- 
dred miles  from  where  we  were;  but  whether  or  not 
there  were  anv  human  beings  there,  we  did  not  know, 


DEATH  VALLEY.  289 

and  in  order  to  determine  we  must  cross  this  great 
river  and  travel  a  hundred  miles,  and  this  seemed  a 
perilous  undertaking  for  us  in  our  present  starving 
condition;  but  after  being  refreshed  by  plenty  of  good 
water  we  determined  to  undertake  it,  hoping  that  good 
fortune  might  attend  us. 

After  a  little  rest,  the  animals  with  grass,  we  packed 
up,  and  after  Field  had  put  on  his,  once  serviceable, 
life  preserver  he  mounted  the  old  mule  behind  the 
small  pack  and  started  to  swim  across  the  river.  He 
took  the  lead  in  this  instance  for  three  reasons:  first, 
we  thought  that  the  mule,  being  much  older  than  the 
horse,  had  probabl}'  had  more  experience  and  therefore 
might  be  a  much  better  swimmer;  then  Field  had  the 
advantage  in  having  the  life  preserver;  but  the  last, 
and  most  potent,  reason  was  my  fear  of  getting 
drowned.  It  was  understood  that  I  was  to  remain  on 
shore  and  be  ready  to  assist  him  if  necessary,  or  until 
he  had  safely  landed  on  the  other  side. 

In  he  went,  and  the  trusty  old  mule  was  swimming 
faithfully,  and  had  reached  the  middle  of  the  river, 
when  Fiild,  as  he  afterv^  ards  told  me,  to  hurry  the 
mule,  gave  a  gentle  jerk  on  the  bridie,  when,  to  his 
utter  astonishment,  the  mule  made  a  complete  somer- 
set backwards  plunging  Field,  the  pack,  and  himself 
entirely  under  the  water,  except  his  heels  which  ap- 
peared above  the  water  as  his  head  went  under.  In  a 
moment  Field  popped  up  and,  after  shaking  his  head 
as  a  swimmer  will  do  after  taking  a  plunge,  cast  about 
to  take  his  bearings,  or  to  determine  just  where  he 
was,  and  began  to  paddle  with  his  hands,  much  as  he 
did  when  the  canoes  were  upset  on  the  river,  or  some- 
what after  the  stj'le  of  a  swimming  dog.  On  coming 
to  the  surface,  the  mule  cast  a  glance  at  the  still  liv- 
ing, but  unloaded  portion  of  his  cargo,  then  made  a 
bee  line  for  the  shore  which  he    had   so    recently  left. 


290  DEATH  VAI^IvEY. 

While  Field  continued  to  paddle  and  float  down  the 
river,  I  dismounted  and  followed  along  the  bank,  try- 
ing to  encourage  him  to  renewed  efforts  to  float  ashore. 
Finally  he  passed  behind  a  clump  of  willows  out  of 
sight;  but  soon  I  heard  him  call  for  help  and  on  going 
a  little  further  down,  found  him  stuck  fast  in  the  mud. 
I  waded  waist  deep  into  that  mud,  and  literally  drag- 
ged him  out,  almost  a  mile  below  his  starting 
point. 

As  we  were  struggling  in  this  muddy  swamp,  Field 
said  he  wondered  why  some  of  this  superfluous  water 
was  not  distributed  over  those  dry  deserts  from  which 
we  had  so  recently  come.  I  told  him,  politely,  that  I 
thought  that  a  man  of  his  age,  ability,  opportunites, 
and  nationality,  (you  know  he  was  quite  proud  of 
being  an  Englishman)  ought  to  know  why  the  moist- 
ure was  not  so  distributed,  and  that  I  was  too  illiterate 
to  enlighten  him  on  that  point,  but  that,  when  oppor- 
tunity offered,  he  might  consult  some  one  who  knew 
more  of  natural  science  than  I  did.  I  informed  him 
that  I  had  an  idea  that  if  any  considerable  portion  of 
the  water  of  that  river  had  been  distributed  over  that 
desert  that  we  would  not  have  had  the  experience 
of  the  last  fifteen  days,  whereupon  he  very  plainly 
intimated  that  I  did  not  have  much  sense,  or,  in  other 
words,  he  called  me  a  d — d  fool. 

After  reaching  solid  ground  and  resting  for  a  little 
while,  we  returned  to  the  place  from  which  he  had 
started  out  on  his  perilous  voyage,  and  where  I  had 
hastily  left  my  horse.  We  found  the  horse  and  mule 
quietly  grazing  with  their  packs  on  their  backs.  The 
faithful  old  mule  had  the  appearance  of  having  been 
wet,  but  was  now  almost  dry,  yet  not  so  dry,  inter- 
nally, as  he  had  been  several  days  before. 

What  shall  we  do  now?  We  are  perhaps  two  hun- 
dred or  more  miles  from  any  white  settlement.     We 


DEATH  VALLEY.  291 

do  not  know  th  It  Fort  Uinta  is  occupied.  Shall  we 
make  another  attempt  to  cross  the  river?  I  asked  my 
brave  friend  if  he  was  willing  to  again  mount  the  mule 
aud  make  another  attempt,  when  he  again  exclaimed, 
"You  must  be  a  d— d  fool!"  I  then,  pretending  to 
have  a  little  courage,  asked  him  if  he  would  follow 
provided  I  would  lead,  whereupon  he  declared  most 
emphatically  that  under  no  conditions  would  he  again 
attempt  to  swim  across  that  river.  I  had  not  had  his 
experience,  but  fear  of  being  drowned  was  quite  suffi- 
cient to  prevent  me  from  undertaking  the  perilous 
task,  more  especially  after  witnessing  his  failure. 

Well,  what  next?  We  could  not  depend  upon  fish- 
ing and  hunting,  for  we  had  no  fish  hooks,  nor  means 
of  catching  fish,  and  not  more  than  a  dozen  loads  of 
shot,  and  a  little  powder;  so  the  matter  of  slaying  one 
of  our  animal  friends  was  now  seriously  debated,  and, 
after  thoroughly  canvassing  the  whole  situation,  it  was 
most  reluctantly  determined  that,  however  hard,  this 
must  be  done.  No  doubt  our  starving  condition  at 
that  particular  time  had  some  weight  in  making  this 
decision. 

Then  the  question  was,  which  of  the  animals  shall 
be  sacrificed?  The  mule  was  quite  thin,  and  probably 
tough,  while  the  little  horse  was  young,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  many  days  it  had,  with  all  of  us,  starved 
and  traveled  without  water,  was  still  quite  plump  aud 
round,  and  probably  tender,  or,  at  the  worst,  not  so 
tough  as  the  poor  old  docile  mule;  so,  at  length  we 
decided  to  kill  the  innocent  little  creature,  jerk  his 
flesh,  pack  it  on  the  mule,  and  thereby  try  to  save  our 
own  lives,  for  a  time  at  least,  and  endeavor  to  reach 
some  place  of  safety. 

The  matter  of  slaying  the  horse  was  determined  by 
casting  lots,  neither  being  willing  to  perform  that  mel 
ancholy,  but  now  absolutely  necessary,  act.     It  fell  to 


292  DEATH  VALLEY. 

my  lot,  and  that  was  one  of,  if  not  the  most  revolting 
act  in  my  whole  life's  experience,  for  I  had,  probably, 
become  as  strongly  attached  to  that  little  horse  as  man 
ever  becomes  attached  to  animal.  I  most  reluctantly 
took  the  bridle  in  my  left  hand,  my  revolver  in  my 
right,  stood  directly  in  front  of  the  poor,  unsuspecting, 
innocent  creature  with  the  murderous  pistol  close  to, 
and  a  little  above  a  line  extending  from  eye  to  eye, 
and  fired.  When  the  smoke  of  the  powder  had  cleared 
off  a  little,  I  saw  at  my  feet  the  quivering,  dying  body. 
I  staggered  off  a  few  steps  and  sat  down,  sick  at 
heart. 

Field  walked  several  steps  away,  and  turned  his 
back  upon  the  scene  until  after  the  fatal  shot  had  been 
fired;  then,  after  some  little  time,  he  entered  upon  his 
share  of  the  enforced  duty,  and,  after  having  removed 
a  portion  of  the  skin,  cut  off  some  slices  of  flesh  and 
brought  them  to  a  fire  I  had  started.  We  broiled  and 
ate  a  little  of  it,  not  through  desire  or  relish  for  it,  but 
from  a  sense  of  duty,  knowing  that  our  lives  depended 
upon  it. 

It  is  said  that  for  many  years  Dr.  Franklin  refrained 
from  eating  flesh,  having  an  idea  that  it  was  wrong  to 
slay  and  eat  the  flesh  of  other  creatures;  but  that  he 
changed  his  mind,  and  his  diet,  too,  after  having  seen 
large  fish  devour  small  ones.  I  strongly  suspect  that 
if  the  doctor  had  been  with  us,  or  in  a  like  condition, 
even  before  his  conversion,  he  would,  more  than  likely 
have  taken  a  little  flesh,  even  though  it  had  been  a 
piece  of  his  own  favorite  horse. 

I  said  we  only  ate  a  little  at  first:  I  only  ate  a  little  for 
two  reason;  first,  I  did  not  relish  the  food;  second,  I 
had  heard  of  persons  being  killed  by  eating  too  much 
after  fasting  for  a  long  time,  and  I  had  no  desire  to 
commit  suicide  just  then.  Field  ate  too  much.  Night 
came  on,  work  was  suspended,  and  we  retired.     The 


DEATH  VALLEY.  293 

poor  old  lone,  and, no  doubt,  now  lonely,  mule,  having 
■filled  himself  with  grass,  came  up  near  the  now  terribly 
mutilated  remains  of  his  late  companion,  and  looked 
on  as  Field  continued  his  bloody  work.  Field,  with 
an  expression  of  sorrow,  said,  "If  that  mule  could  rea- 
son and  look  forward  to  the  time  when  his  body  might 
be  in  a  like  condition  as  that  of  this  horse,  he  would, 
no  doubt,  take  to  his  heels,  bid  us  a  final  farewell,  and 
seek  other  society. "  But,  fortunately  for  us,  he  did 
not  know  that  he  was  to  be  held  in  reserve  for  our 
future  security.  He  was  securely  tied  up  every  night 
from  that  time  until  the  day  he  was  slain  for  our  salva- 
tion. 

Early  in  the  night  following  that  eventful  day,  my 
companion  began  to  complain  much  as  he  had  done  on 
the  night  after  he  had  eaten  the  little  red  berries;  but 
there  was  no  lack  of  water  now,  no  need  of  a  special 
^rain-cloud.  I  got  up,  heated  water  in  our  little  camp 
kettle,  applied  hot  cloths  to  his  aching  belly,  and  did 
everything  else  that  either  of  us  could  think  of  for  his 
relief.  The  pain  was  intense,  and  we  feared  that  he 
would  surely  die,  and  earnestly  prayed  all  the  rest  of 
the  night  that  he  might  be  relieved,  and  get  well. 
Towards  moaning  most  violent  vomiting  came  on, 
which  continued  for  thirty  hours,  or  more.  He  was 
not  able  to  walk  for  three  days,  and  during  that  time 
I  nursed  him,  finished  jerking  the  meat,  and  built  a 
raft  of  some  parti}-  rotten  logs,  which  I  found  in  the 
vicinity,  on  which  we  floated  across  the  river,  on  the 
fourth  day  after  our  arrival  here.  I  also  looked  to  the 
welfare  of  the  mnle,  and  prepared  some  bags  in  which 
to  carry  our  jerk.  Manley,  I  am  sure  that  you  know 
the  meaning  of  the  term  "jerk"  so  that  a  definition  of 
the  word  is  not  at  all  necessary. 

The  old  logs  of  which  the  raft  was  made  were  rem- 
nants of  loo:  cabins,  a  number  of  which  had  been  buil 


294  DEATH  VALLEY. 

aud  occupied  more  than  half  a  century  before,  but  by 
whom  I  do  not  know.  Field  remarked  that  the  find- 
ing of  these  old  rotting  logs  there  was  another  "God 
send,"  as  we  then  had  neither  ax,  hammer,  nor  any 
tool  of  iron  with  which  to  cut  down  a  tree.  I  bound 
these  logs  together  with  long  strips  cut  from  the  hide 
of  the  dead  horse.  Paddles  and  poles  were  also  pro- 
vided. The  mule  was  with  difficulty  driven  across 
the  river. 

When  the  raft  was  landed  on  the  west  bank,  the 
mule  packed,  and  all  about  ready  to  start,  I  took  the 
long  strip  of  raw-hide  from  the  raft  and  tied  one  end 
of  it  around  the  mule's  neck,  mounted  Field  on  the 
mule  behind  the  large  pack,  which  made  the  whole 
outfit  look  quite  comical  indeed.  Before  leaving  ^he 
other  side  of  the  river  I  had  discovered  that  the  saddle 
girth  was  not  very  strong,  so  I  cut  a  wide  belt  from 
the  hide  of  the  lately  slaughtered  horse  and  fitted  it 
to  the  saddle  as  a  girth,  knowing  that  the  pack,  now 
containing  all  of  our  goods  and  a  supply  of  more  than 
a  bushel  of  jerk,  would  be  quite  bulkv,  if  not  heavy, 
and  more  difficult  to  keep  on  the  back  of  a  mule  than 
it  is  for  the  camel  to  maintain  his  hump  on  his  back. 
This  girth  afterwards  made  us  two  or  three  pretty 
substantial  meals,  as  did  also  the  long  strip  of  green, 
wet  hide,  one  end  of  which  I  had  tied  round  the  mule's 
neck,  allowing  it  to  drag  for  a  long  distance  through 
the  hot  dry  sand. 

All  being  ready,  I,  as  usual,  took  the  lead  with  my 
shot  gun,  which  I  always  carried,  but  with  which  I 
seldom  killed  anything,  on  my  shoulder.  The  old 
mule  followed  with  his  high,  towering  pack,  and  Field 
almost  hidden  behind.  It  was  noon,  but  we  did  not 
stop  for  dinner,  but  simply  reached  into  one  of  the 
great  bulging  sacks,  took  out  a  piece  of  jerk  and  ate  it  as- 
we  went  marching  on ;  no  more  trouble  now  about  cook- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  295 

ing.  Late  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  Uinta  riv9r,  and, 
as  my  two-legged  companion  had  grown  ver}^  tired  of 
the  back  of  the  four-legged  one,  we  went  into  camp 
early.  Our  objective  point  was  Fort  Uinta,  where  we 
hoped  to  find  military.  We  could  not  risk  turning 
the  mule  loose  at  night,  and  the  long  strip  of  raw-hide 
was  designed  and  used  to  secure  him,  and  yet  to  af- 
ford him  liberty  to  graze  while  we  slept.  As  you  will 
see  a  little  further  on,  both  girth  and  lariat  were  used 
for  a  purpose  not  anticipated. 

The  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  days  came  and 
went,  and  we  were  trudging  on,  up  the  Uinta,  through 
a  mostly  very  barren  country,  with  some  little  rich 
and  fertile  land.  We  saw  signs  of  Indians  often,  but 
no  Indians,  There  was  much  Cottonwood,  but  little 
other  timber.  We  saw  some  fish  in  the  river  which 
we  coveted,  but  could  not  get.  The  main  course  of 
this  river  is  from  north-west  to  south-east.  We  trav- 
eled most  of  the  way  to  the  fort  on  Indian  trails,  some 
of  which  were  much  worn,  but  mostly  at  some  much 
earlier  period.  Of  course  we  had  plenty  of  good 
water,  and  food,  such  as  it  was.  Field  did  not  walk 
two  miles  during  those  five  days,  but  seemed  to  be 
fattening  fast,  I  sometimes  thought  he  might  be  just 
a  little  lazy,  but  I  never  told  him  so,  for  I  realized  that 
he  had  recently  had  a  severe  tussel  with  death. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day  we  arrived 
at  the  abandoned  old  fort.  There  were  only  three  log 
buildings,  and  they  were  in  the  shape  of  three  sides  of 
a  hollow  square,  with  port-holes  on  the  outer  faces  of 
the  buildings,  and  doors  entering  each  of  them  from 
the  hollow  square  or  court.  Facing  the  vacant  side  of 
the  court,  the  port-hole  from  which  I  shot  the  wolf  on 
the  night  after  we  had  killed  the  mule,  would  be  on 
right  hand  side.  We  were  unable  to  determine 
whether  this  fort  had  been  constructed  and   occupied 


296  DEATH  VALLEY. 

by  Americans  or  Mexicans,  bnt,  from  its  apparent  age, 
we  were  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  it  was  Mexicans. 
It  had  not  been  occupied  for,  probabl}^,  three  or  four 
j-ears.  Some  little  farming  had  been  done  immedi- 
ately around  the  fort.  Surrounding  the  fort  is  a  large 
body  of  fine,  fertile  land  which  I  have  no  doubt  has 
long  since  been  occupied  by  mormons,  or  other  enter- 
prising people. 

Having  no  means  of  subsistance  here  we  soon  de- 
cided to  push  on  towards  Fort  Bridger,  and,  after  rest- 
ing a  few  hours  set  out  following  the  larger  fork  of  the 
river  which  comes  almost  directly  from  the  north. 
We  now  believed  that  we  were  almost,  if  not  exactl}^ 
due  south  of  Fort  Bridger.  The  river  is  small,  an-^ 
very  crooked;  we  crossed  it  many  times  within  three 
days,  and,  at  the  end  of  that  time,  found  ourselves  in 
the  mouth  of  a  rocky  canon,  and  after  struggling  for 
one  whole  day,  we  came  to  where  the  steep,  high, 
stone  walls  closed  the  little  river  in  on  both  sides,  ren- 
dering it  impossible  for  us  to  proceed  any  further. 

We  were  now  nearly  out  of  food;  the  jerk  was  al- 
most gone.  A  council  was  held,  and  it  was  decided 
that  we  should  return  to  the  fort  and  take  chances  of 
being  rescued,  or  scalped  by  some  roving  band  of  reds, 
or  starving  to  death.  We  at  once  set  out  on  our  re- 
turn, full  of  disappointment  and  melancholy  forebod- 
ings. 

The  next  day  found  us  without  food:  and  now  came 
into  use  the  long,  narrow  strip  of  raw-hide  which  first 
bound  together  the  old,  rotting  logs  of  which  the  raft 
was  made,  then  to  secure  the  mule  of  nights.  It  was 
now  almost  as  hard  as  bone,  and  nearly  round,  hav- 
ing been  dragged  through  the  hot  sand  while  it  was 
yet  green  and  wet,  closed  up  like  a  hollow  tube  with 
sand  inside.  Two  or  three  yards  of  it  at  a  time,  was 
cut  into  pieces  about  five  inches  long,  the  hair  singed 


DEATH  VALLEY.  297 

off,  the  sand  scratched  out,  and  these  pieces  were 
dropped  into  our  camp  kettle  and  cooked  until  the 
whole  formed  one  mass  of  jelly  or  gluten  which  was, 
to  us,  quite  palatable.  When  the  lasso  had  all  been 
thus  prepared  and  eaten,  the  broad  girth  which  had 
served  so  well  in  holding  the  pack- saddle  on  the  mule's 
back,  was  cleaned,  cooked,  and  eaten.  These  substi- 
tutes for  jerk  sustained  us  very  v/ell  till  we  again  ar- 
rived at  the  fort. 

Another  consultation  was  now  held,  and  the  ques- 
tion was  —  what  shall  we  do  now?  We  were  again, 
apparently,  at  the  starting  point  of  another  long,  en- 
forced fast.  Our  path  seemed  hedged  in.  The  pros- 
pect was,  indeed,  very  gloomy.  Our  only  reasonable 
hope  for  even  the  temporary-  prolongation  of  our  lives 
was  centered  in  our  ever  faithful,  and  always  reliable 
old  mule.  We  revolted  at  the  idea  of  killing  and  eat- 
ing him,  but  the  last  bit  of  the  girth  was  gone. 
After  canvassing  the  whole  situation  over  and  over, 
again  and  again,  we  finally,  but  most  reluctantly  de- 
cided to  kill  the  mule,  and  preserve  all  the  soft  parts, 
even  the  skin  with  all  of  its  old  scars,  and  then  gather 
in  whatever  else  we  could  find,  and  stay  here  until 
spring,  or  until  good  fortune  might  afford  us  some 
means  escape;  till  some  Moses  might  come  and  lead  us 
out  of  this  wilderness,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
we  had  not  borrowed  any  jewelry  which  we  had  failed 
to  return. 

There  were  signs  of  wolves  in  that  vicinity,  and  it 
was  decided  that  the  mule  be  slain  about  ten  paces  dis- 
tant and  directly  in  front  of  one  of  the  port-holes  of 
the  fort,  with  the  idea  that  wolves  might  smell  the 
blood  and  come  there  and  subject  themselves  to  being 
shot,  and  thereby  afford  us  a  chance  to  increase  our 
stock  of  winter  supplies  in  the  form  of  wolf  steak,  or 
jerk.     Accordingly  the  victim  was   lead    to    the   spot 


298  DEATH  VALLEY 

indicated,  and  there  slain  in  the  same  manner,  and 
with  quite  as  much  reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  slaj-er^ 
as  on  the  occasion  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  little  horse, 
more  than  three  weeks  before.  The  body  was  skinned, 
cut  up,  and  all  taken  within  the  building,  nothing 
being  left  except  the  blood  which  had  been  spilled  on 
the  ground,  and  which  was  intended  to  attract  wolves 
or,  possibl}^  bears  or  other  animals. 

My  now  only  living  associate  ridiculed  the  idea  of 
killing  wolves,  and  insisted  that  the  flesh  could  not  be 
eaten,  stating  the  fact  that  even  hogs  would  not  eat 
the  dead  body  of  a  dog,  and  insisted  that  a  dog  was 
onh'  a  tamed  wolf.  I  reminded  him  of  a  cat  which 
had  been  eaten.  He  finally  agreed  that,  if  I  killed  a 
wolf,  he  would  get  up  and  dress  it,  but  said  most  em- 
phatically that  he  would  not  sit  up  and  w^atch  for  it; 
so  he  went  to  bed,  that  is,  rolled  himself  up  in  a 
blanket  on  the  ground  in  front  of  a  good  fire  inside  of 
the  fort,  and  went  to  sleep,  while  I  sat  with  my  rather 
untrustworthy  double  barreled  shot-gun  protruding 
through  the  port-hole  in  full  view  of  the  spot  before 
indicated.  The  night  was  clear,  and  the  moon  was 
shining  in  full  splendor.  It  was  probably  eleven 
o'clock;  Field  had  been  snoring  for  a  long  time,  when 
I  heard  something  in  the  tall,  dry  grass,  and  soon  a 
large,  brownish-gray  wolf  came  into  full  view,  with 
head  up,  apparently  sniffing,  or  smelling,  and  cau- 
tiously approaching  the  fatal  spot.  When  he  reached 
it,  and  began  to  lick  up  the  blood  which  was  still  on 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  standing  with  his  left  side 
toward  the  fort,  and  in  full  view,  I  took  deliberate 
aim,  and  fired,  and  he  fell  upon  the  ground  without 
making  any  considerable  noise. 

The  tired,  sleeping  man  was  aroused  by  the  report 
of  the  gun,  and  rushed  into  the  room  where  I  was  in 
great  excitement,  thinking,  perhaps,  that  some  enemy 


DEATH  VAI.I.EY.  299 

had  appeared,  and  had  just  then  commenced  to  bom- 
bard the  fort;  but  when  I  explained  to  him  that  I  had 
simply  killed  a  wolf,  he  ran  out  towards  it,  and,  arriv- 
ing close  to  it,  the  wounded  creature  rose  up  on  its 
hind  feet  and  growled  quite  vigorously,  which  seemed 
to  frighten  Field  as  much  as  did  the  noise  of  the  gun. 
He  dashed  back  to  the  fort,  and,  after  having  time  to 
recover  from  his  speechless  condition,  abused  me  most 
fearfully  for  having  told  him  that  I  had  killed  a  wolf. 
I  then  went  out  and  put  a  load  of  shot  into  the  wolf's 
head,  and  found  that  my  first  charge  had  passed 
through  and  broke  both  of  its  fore  legs  near  the  body. 
Field  was  so  thoroughly  frightened  that  I  could  not 
induce  him  to  approach  the  dead  animal  for  some  time, 
and  I  do  believe  that  that  wolf  haunted  him  as  long  as 
I  knew  him,  for  he  seemed  never  to  forget  it. 
After  dressing  it  by  the  light  of  the  moon  assisted  by 
a  torch,  we  retired.  On  viewing  the  plump  body  next 
morning  Field  exclaimed,  "That's  another  God-send!" 
and  notwithstanding  his  opinion  that  wolf  could  not 
be  eaten,  he  found  that  wolf  to  be  the  best  food  we 
had  eaten  since  we  had  assisted  Walker  and  his  tribe 
in  eating  the  mountain  sheep. 

The  French  may  eat  their  horses,  but  I  do  not  want 
more  horse  flesh.  The  old  mule  made  fair  but  quite 
coarse  beef.  While  out  on  this  little  pleasure(?)  ex- 
cursion we  ate  horse,  mule,  wolf,  wild-cat,  mountain 
sheep,  rose  seed  buds,  raw-hide,  a  squirrel,  fatty  mat- 
ter from  the  sockets  of  the  mule's  eyes  and  the  marrow 
from  his  bones;  but  that  ham  of  wild-cat  was  certainly 
the  most  detestable  thing  that  I  ever  undertook  to 
eat.  The  marrow  from  the  mule's  bones  was  a  real 
luxury. 

We  now  had  a  pretty  good  stock  of  food,  such  as  it 
was,  but  not  enough  to  carry  us  through  the  winter  on 
full  rations;  therefore  we  determined  to  try  to  add  to  it 


300  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

by  hunting.  One  was  to  go  out  and  hunt  while  the 
other  would  remain  a;  home:  we  now  had  undisputed 
posession  of  the  fort  and  it  was  our  home.  Field  took 
the  first  day 's  outing  while  I  occupied  my  time  in  dry- 
ing and  smoking  meat.  Ivate  in  the  evening^  he  re- 
turned, tired  and  worn  out,  having  seen  nothing 
worth  shooting. 

Next  day  came  my  turn  to  hunt.  I  took  a  lunch, 
as  he  had  done,  consisting  of  jerked  mule.  I  did  not 
tell  him  so,  but  I  had  determined  to  make  an  excursion 
up  the  river  to  a  point  where  we  had  seen  some  fresh 
trails  and  deer  tracks  some  days  before.  When  I  was 
putting  up  my  lunch  my  friend  intimated  that  I  was 
taking  a  very  large  amount  for  one  lunch,  but  I  told 
him  that  I  might  stay  out  late  and  that  I  did  not  in- 
tend to  starve.  I  went,  stayed  all  day,  all  night,  and 
part  of  the  next  day,  and  returned  as  he  had  done,^ 
tired  and  discouraged,  not  having  seen  anything  worth 
bringing  in.  In  the  evening  of  the  first  day  out  I 
found  a  trail  which  appeared  to  have  been  used  daily 
by  deer  going  to  and  from  the  river. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  they  might  go  out  early  in 
the  morning,  so  I  secreted  myself  within  gun  shot  of 
the  trail  behind  an  old,  moss-covered  log  where  I  slept 
comfortably;  and  when  it  was  light  enough  in  the 
morning  to  see  a  deer,  I  leveled  my  gun  across  the 
log  in  a  position  commanding  the  trail  and  waited  and 
watched  until  nine  o'clock,  but  nothing  came  upon 
that  pathway  that  morning.  After  getting  tired  of 
watching  and  waiting  I  went  down  to  the  trail  where, 
to  my  astonishment,  I  found  the  fresh  tracks  of  a 
large  bear  wliich  must  have,  passed  by  that  way  while 
I  was  sleeping.  As  a  rule  I  do  not  like  to  be  treated 
discourteously,  but  in  this  instance  I  felt  glad  that  this 
stranger  had  passed  me  by . 

On  arriving  at  the  fort  late  in  the  evening    I   found 


DEATH  VALLKY.  301 

my  friend  in  a  terrible  state  of  mental  excitement. 
He  said  that  he  had  not  slept  a  minnte  during  the 
whole  of  the  night  btfore.  He  had  filled  the  door  of 
his  room  with  rails,  and  sharpened  one  end  of  a  long 
stick  which  he  intended  to  use  if  necessar}^  as  a 
weapon  of  defence.  When  I  arrived  he  was  again  fill- 
ing the  door  with  rails.  I  had  the  gun,  pistol  ahd  big 
knife  with  me  so  this  was  his  onl}^  means  of  defence. 
He  said  he  would  not  stay  alone  another  night  for  all 
the  gold  in  California. 

I  was  much  discouraged  by  our  failures  in  hunting, 
and  after  a  lengthy  discussion  we  decided  to  make 
another  attempt  to  cross  tht  mountains  and  escape 
from  what  then  seemed  to  us  certain  starvation. 
This  was  Thursday  night  and  we  set  Monday  as  the 
time  for  starting.  By  Saturday  night  everything  was 
in  readiness  for  the  start  and  Sunday  we  devoted  to 
Bible  reading,  for  we  each  still  had  a  pocket  Bible. 
As  much  of  the  flesh  of  the  wolf  and  the  lamented  mule 
as  we  thought  we  could  carry  had  been  thoroughly 
jerked,  and  finding  that  we  would  not  be  overburdened 
by  it,  we  economized  by  roasting  and  eating  little 
scraps  of  flesh,  the  marrow  from  the  bones,  and  even 
the  head  of  the  mule  was  roasted,  the  fragments  of 
flesh  scraped  off"  and  eaten,  and  Field  found  a  rich 
fatty  substance  in  behind  the  eyes,  which  he  ate. 

We  had  a  canteen  in  which  our  powder  was  carried, 
but  the  powder  was  nearly  all  gone  so  we  emptied  it 
and  used  the  canteen  to  carry  water  in.  Early  Mon- 
day morning  we  loaded  ourselves,  mostly  with  jerked 
mule  and  wolf,  leaving  many  useful  things  behind, 
bid  adieu  to  Fort  Uinta  and  took  up  our  line  of  march 
rather  leluctantly. 

My  companion  was  not  strong  and  we  soon  found  it 
expedient  for  me  to  take  on  part  of  his  burden.  We 
rested  often  and  yet  long  before  night   he    became    so 


302  DEATH  \^ALLEY. 

tired  that  we  had  to  go  into  camp.  Most  of  the  day 
we  had  traveled  on  an  old  deserted  trail.  The  nights 
being  cold  we  were  under  the  necessity  of  keeping  up 
a  fire  as  we  had  left  our  blankets  at  the  fort.  The 
next  morning  we  made  an  early  start  and  rested  often. 
At  about  noon  we  found  good  shade  and  water,  and 
the  sun  being  quite  hot  we  stopped  and  rested  in  the 
shade  for  more  than  three  hours,  then  trudged  on  till 
nearly  night  when  we  found  water,  and  plenty  of  old 
dry  timber  for  fuel  and  camped.  Field  expressed  a 
wish  that  he  had  his  old  mule  again,  and  I  reminded 
him  that  he  had  a  portion  of  it  left  in  his  knapsack, 
and  that  turn  about  was  fair  play:  as  the  mule  had 
carried  him  for  a  long  time  when  he  was  unable  to 
walk  he  should  not  object  to  carrying  a  portion  of  the 
mnle  now;  whereupon  he  again  plainl}-  intimated  that 
he  thought  I  was  a  d — d  fool.  I  kept  up  the  fire  and 
he  slept  until  morning. 

Another  day  was  passed  without  any  unusual  occur- 
ence; we  traveled  and  ate  at  the  same  time  as  usual. 
Another  day  of  pretty  hard  travel  over  sandy  plains 
and  rocky  hills  brought  us  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
where  we  had  plenty  of  good  water  and  an  abundance 
of  fuel.  A  little  sprinkle  of  rain  early  in  the  evening 
was  the  first  we  had  seen  since  the  memorable  night 
after  Field  had  eaten  the  little  red  berries. 

Early  Saturday  morning  we  filled  our  canteen  with 
water  and  started  up  the  mountain.  I  had  been  carry- 
ing most  of  the  jerk,  but  the  stock  was  running  down 
quite  rapidly.  My  companions  bag  now  being  almost 
empty,  and. as  he  had  little  else  to  carry  while  I  had 
the  gun  and  some  other  things,  including  his  heavy 
overcoat,  I  divided  the  jerk,  putting  about  half  of  it 
into  his  sack.  All  day  long  we  were  climbing  the 
mountain.  Late  in  the  afternoon  I  was  several  rods 
ahead  of  Field  when  he  called  to  me  to  stop:  I  did  so 


DEATH  VALLEY.  303 

and  when  he  came  up  he  appeared  to  be  a  little  cross 
and  insisted  that  we  were  not  traveling  in  the  direction 
formerly  agreed  upon.  I  requested  him  to  let  me  see 
the  little  compass  which  he  had  in  his  pocket,  and  on 
examining  it  he  found  that  he  was  mistaken;  where- 
upon he  muttered  something  which  I  thought  was 
"swear  words,"  and  then  we  went  marching  on.  In 
a  little  while  we  were  within  the  old  snow  limits 
where  we  found  large  bodies  of  old  icy  looking  snow 
in  places  shaded  by  trees  and  rocks,  and  a  little  before 
dark  went  into  camp.  We  gathered  some  old  dry 
timber  and  made  a  large  fire,  then  some  green  fir  limbs 
for  a  bed.  When  I  began  to  prepare  our  bed  on  one 
side  of  the  flaming  logs,  to  my  surprise  Field  began 
to  prepare  one  on  the  other  side  of  the  fire.  Neither 
had  spoken  since  the  occurence  of  the  little  unpleas- 
antness in  the  afternoon  about  the  course  of  travel. 
Mutely  each  took  his  side  of  the  fire. 

We  had  always  slept  together  except  when  he  was 
sick  and  the  night  I  had  left  him  alone  at  the  fort. 
Some  time  in  the  night  I  became  thirsty  and  got  up 
and  procured  some  snow,  put  it  in  our  only  tin  cup 
and  set  it  on  some  live  coals  to  melt  and  went  to 
sleep.  The  snow  melted,  the  water  evaporated,  the 
solder  melted  and  left  the  tin.  While  I  slept,  my 
dumb  friend  woke  up  thirsty,  took  the  tin  cup,  filled 
it  with  snow  and  put  it  on  coals.  The  snow  melted 
and  the  water  run  out  on  the  coal^-;  his  tongue  let  loose 
and  he  then  denounced  me  as  a  knave,  an  ass,  a  fool, 
an  unregenerate  heathen,  and  what  else  I  don't  want 
to  remember.  I  woke  up  alarmed  and  did  not  at  first 
fully  understand  what  had  created  the  storm,  but  after 
having  the  bottomless  cup  dashed  at  my  head  I  real- 
ized the  situation,  and  began  to  try  to  apologize  and 
explain  the  unavoidable  and  unfortunate  circumstance; 
but  no  explanation  would  satisfy  his  now  thoroughly 


304  DEATH  VALLEY. 

"Johnny  Bull"  temper.  After  this  little  nocturnal 
disturbance  had  subsided,  I,  on  my  bed  of  fir  branches 
with  my  feet  towards  the  fire,  soon  fell  into  a  sound 
sleep  and  knew  nothing  more  of  the  world  until  the 
sun  was  shining.  Whether  or  not  my  friend  had 
cooled  off  I  did  not  inquire;  but  I  do  know  that  there 
was  an  unusual  coldness  between  us,  for  neither  spoke 
to  the  other  until  about  twelve  o'clock  and  then,  as 
will  appear,  our  conversation  was  very  short. 

As  we  did  not  rise  until  late  no  delay  was  made,  but 
when  each  had  his  bag  on  his  back  and  a  nugget  of 
jerk  in  his  hand  we  started  up  the  side  of  the  mount- 
ain as  quiet  as  two  deaf  mutes.  There  was  no  water 
to  be  had;  our  camp  kettle  had  been  left  at  the  fort, 
and  through  my  stupidity  the  cup  had  become  useless, 
therefore  we  were  obliged  to  eat  the  icy  snow  or  en- 
dure the  thirst.  No  new  snow  had  yet  fallen  in  this 
high  altitude  although  it  was  now  n earing  the  end  of 
October.  These  mountains  were  then  heavily  covered 
with  pine  and  fir  but  the  timber  was  not  large.  In 
some  places  where  the  snow  had  melted  awa}^,  short 
green  grass  was  found  quite  close  to  great  banks  of 
snow. 

At  about  twelve  o'clock  we  reached  the  summit  of 
the  great  Uinta  range,  and  I,  being  a  little  in  advance 
of  my  still  mute  companion,  halted  to  take  a  survey  of 
the  field  before  me.  The  top  of  the  range  here  is  bare 
of  timber  and  there  was  no  snow.  When  Field  came 
up  I  broke  the  silence  which  had  lasted  since  the  little 
unpleasantness  of  the  night  before,  by  suggesting  that 
we  attempt  to  cross  the  snow-covered  range  of  mount- 
ains which  now  appeared  north  of  us  and  probably 
fifty  miles  away,  through  what  appeared  to  be  a  gap 
or  low  place  in  the  great  range  of  mountains.  He 
replied,  "You  may  go  that  way  if  you  want  to,  but  I 
am  going  this  way,"    pointing   in   another   direction 


DEATH  VALLEY.  305 

and  quickly  started  off  at  an  angle  of  about  45  degrees 
to  the  right,  or  directly  north-east.  I  also  started  im- 
mediately, and  when  we  were  a  few  rods  apart  I  said, 
^'Good-by;we  may  not  meet  again  very  soon."  He 
replied  '  'Good-by, ' '  and  within  a  few  minutes  we  were 
out  of  sight,  and  in  a  very  short  time  beyond  hailing 
distance. 

This  was  the  last  I  saw  or  heard  of  him  until  after 
each  of  us  had  undergone  many  more  hardships,  so  I 
will  now  drop  my  friend  but  will  hereafter  devote  a 
chapter  to  him,  and  give  you  an  account  of  his  exper- 
ience as  he  afterwards  gave  it  to  me,  detailing  an  ac- 
count of  many  most  interesting  incidents.  Fortunately 
we  had  divided  the  jerk,  for  nothing  was  said  at  this 
sudden  and  unexpected  parting  about  anything  which 
either  had  in  his  possession.  I  had  an  idea  when  I 
bade  him  good-by  that  he  would  soon  turn  about  and 
follow  me. 

After  the  unceremonious  parting  I  immediately  be- 
gan to  descend  the  north  side  of  the  mountain  which 
was  very  rough,  rocky  and  steep;  but  down,  down, 
down  I  went  into  a  deep,  dark  canon  where  1  slept  on 
the  leaves  under  a  fir  tree,  after  having  taken  some 
landmarks.  When  it  was  light  enough  to  see  the  ob- 
jects I  had  noted  to  guide  me,  I  set  out  and  spent  the 
day  in  crossing  over  hills  and  through  deep  caiions. 
In  the  evening  I  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  range  of 
mountains  which  I  had  seen  from  the  point  of  our  part- 
ing. The  sun  disappeared,  dark  clouds  began  to  float 
over  the  mountains  and  it  was  evident  that  a  storm 
was  approaching. 

While  it  was  yet  light  enough  I  took  some  land- 
marks or  guiding  points;  and  it  was  well  I  did  so,  for 
on  the  following  morning  when  I  woke  I  found  it 
snowing  quietly  but  heavily,  and  before  it  was  light 
enough  for  me  to  see  my  guiding  objects  there  must 


3o6  DEATH  VALLEY 

have  been  six  or  more  inches  of  new  snow  on  the 
ground  beyond  my  snug  retreat  under  a  sheltering 
pine.  When  it  was  light  enough  I  rose  from  my  com- 
fortable bed,  took  my  bearings  as  best  I  could  without 
a  compass  and  started  up  the  mountain  through  the 
radidly  accumulating  bed  of  snow.  The  snow  contin- 
ued to  fall  nearly  all  day,  and  before  night  it  was  more 
than  a  foot  deep. 

All  day  long  I  struggled  through  a  dense  forest. 
Some  time  in  ihe  forenoon  I  crossed  the  fresh  trail  of 
a  large  herd  of  elk  which  forcibly  reminded  me  that 
my  sack  was  almost  empty,  and  I  vainly  wished  that 
one  of  these  wild  creatures  might  come  in  my  way, 
but  I  did  not  dare  to  follow  the  herd  with  the  uncer- 
tainty of  killing  one,  and  the  certainty  of  losing  my 
way  this  dark,  snowy  day.  In  order  to  maintain  my 
course  during  such  dark  days  I  was  under  the  necess- 
ity of  looking  ahead  and  observing  trees  or  other  ob- 
jects  in  my  line  of  travel. 

That  night  i,  as  usual,  slept  under  a  pine  tree  where 
there  was  no  snow.  I  saw  no  sign  of  fire  in  either  of 
these  ranges  of  mountains,  nor  did  I  see  any  signs  of 
Indians  on  my  trip  over  these  two  ranges.  The  next 
day  as  I  approached  the  top  of  the  mountain  I  found 
the  timber  much  smaller,  and  mostly  pine.  There  is 
much  fertile  land  in  some  of  the  valleys  between  the 
two  great  ranges  of  mountains. 

Early  on  the  following  morning  I  arrived  at  the  bald, 
snow-covered  summit.  On  my  right  and  on  my  left 
were  high,  untimbered,  snow-covered  peaks.  From 
this  point  I  could  overlook  a  vast  territory  extending 
over  many  hills,  valleys,  and. smaller  mountains  where 
there  was  no  snow ;  in  fact,  the  snow  only  extended  a 
few  miles  down  the  steep  sides  of  the  great  range. 
As  a  rule  there  is  more  timber  on  the  north  than  on 
the  south  side  of  mountains    west  of  the  Rockies;  but 


DEATH  VATXEY.  307 

it  was  the  reverse  here,  for  there  was  little  timber  on 
the  north  side  of  this  range. 

One  more  day's  tramping  brought  me  down  into  a 
large  barren  plain  where  I  gathered  some  dry  weeds 
for  a  bed,  and  slept,  without  food  or  water;  the  last 
bit  of  the  mule  or  wolf,  I  know  not  which,  I  had  eaten 
during  the  afternoon.  I  had  had  very  little  jerk  for 
the  last  two  or  three  days,  and  began  to  wish  that  I 
had  another  horse,  mule,  or  even  a  wolf"  For  many 
days  I  had  seen  no  living  thing  except  when  I  looked 
into  a  small  glass  which  I  carried  in  my  pocket,  and 
then  only  saw  a  familiar  shadow. 

I  spent  another  day  without  food,  but  had  plenty 
of  water;  another  night  on  a  bed  of  green  brush  beside 
a  good  fire.  The  next  day  was  bright  and  sunny, 
quite  a  contrast  to  the  gloomy  days  I  had  spent  in  the 
mountains.  For  want  of  food  I  was  becoming  quite 
weak  and  was  not  able  to  travel  as  fast  as  usual. 
During  the  early  part  of  the  day  I  saw  some  tracks  of 
an  unshod  horse,  whice  renewed  my  courage  and  hope 
of  redemption;  and  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon I  saw  some  dark  spots  on  the  plain  a  long  dis- 
tance away,  but  almost  in  the  direction  I  was  going. 
Hoping  that  these  objects  might  be  living  creatures,  I 
hurried  on  for  a  time,  then  sat  down  and  after  having 
watched  them  for  a  time  I  found  that  they  changed 
positions  and  that  satisfied  me  to  a  moral  certaintv 
that  they  were  living  creatures,  but  what  I  could  not 
tell.  They  might  be  horses,  cattle,  elk,  deer,  antelope 
or  buffalo;  but  no  matter  what,  I  must  hurry  on  and 
try  to  reach  them  before  night. 

Late  in  the  evening  I  determined  that  they  were 
horses  but  could  not  yet  tell  whether  they  belonged  to 
whites  or  Indians,  or  were  wild.  As  I  approached 
them  they  stopped  grazing  and  started  toward  me,  but 
soon  disappeared  in  a  deep  gulch  between  us  which  I 


3o8  DEATH  VALLEY. 

had  not  noticed  before.  On  arriving  at  the  edge  of 
the  gulch  or  narrow  valley  I  saw  the  horses  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  about  fifteen  or  twenty  wigwams  which  were 
all  in  a  row  on  the  bank  of  a  little  creek  that  ran 
through  the  gulch.  Many  Indians  were  sitting  out- 
side of  their  lodges,  the  weather  being  warm. 

On  first  sight  of  the  village,  being  not  more  than 
200  yards  away,  my  heart  fluttered  just  a  little,  not 
knowing  whether  the  savages  would  scalp  me  or  not; 
but,  notwithstanding  my  natural  cowardice,  I  at  once 
determined  to  "beard  the  lion  in  his  den,"  and  walked 
as  boldly  as  I  could  up  to  the  lower  end  of  the  row  of 
wigwams.  Within  a  few  feet  of  the  nearest  one  three 
young  bucks  met  me  and  seemed  to  be  anxious  to 
know  whence  I  came  and  whither  I  was  going;  whether 
right  down  from  Heaven,  and  if  so  what  was  my  mis- 
sion. They  seemed  as  much  surprised  at  my  sudden 
appearance  as  I  was  on  coming  so  suddenly  upon 
them.  My  first  and  most  important  business  was  to 
determine  whether  they  would  give  me  something  to 
eat,  or  eat  me. 

As  the  men,  women,  and  children  began  to  gather 
around  me  I  heard  some  one  half  way  up  the  line  of 
lodges  call  out  saying  something  which  I  did  not 
understand,  but  on  looking  that  way  saw  a  man  beck- 
oning to  me,  as  I  thought,  when  the  young  men 
motioned  for  me  to  move  on  up  the  line-  On  arriving 
at  the  place  indicated  I  found  myself  in  the  presence 
of  one  whom  I  then  suspected,  and  afterwards  found 
to  be  the  chief,  who  extended  to  his  royal  right  hand 
and  greeted  me  in  a  most  courteous  and  polite  manner, 
and  then  with  a  graceful  wave  of  his  hand  and  a  slight 
bow  indicated  that  I  should  precede  him  at  the  low 
open  door  into  his  Royal  Palace  where  he  very  politely 
introduced  me  to  his  wife  who  proved  to  be  a  sensible, 
clever,  courteous  woman.     She  soon  prepared   some- 


•AHiivA  Hxvaa  309 

thing  for  me  to  eat,  and  after  I  had  finished  my  sup- 
per an  Indian  brought  in  two  pistols  and  wanted  me 
to  take  the  cap  tube  from  one  and  put  it  into  the  other, 
which  I  soon  accomplished.  He  was  much  pleased, 
went  out,  a'nd  soon  returned  with  ten  or  more  pounds 
of  elk  meatwhich  he  tendered  to  me  as  compensation 
for  my  work,  but  the  chief  objected,  and  insisted,  as  I 
understood  him,  that  he  had  plenty  and  that  I  was  his 
guest,  but  finally  consented  for  me  to  accept  part  of 
the  meat.  I  gave  him  to  understand  that  I  wanted  to 
go  to  Fort  Bridger. 

A  case  of  nice  new  blankets  was  opened,  as  it  ap- 
peared to  me,  for  my  especial  benefit.  The  chief,  his 
lady,  two  sons  almost  grown,  two  or  three  wolfish 
looking  dogs  which  forcibly  reminded  me  of  Field's 
terrible  scare,  and  myself  made  up  the  number  of 
lodgers  in  that  mansion  that  night.  Late  that  night 
some  warriors  who  had  been  out  on  a  campaign  came 
home,  and  learning  that  there  was  a  stranger  within 
•the  gates  came  to  the  king's  palace  to  see  him,  and 
also  to  report  that  they  had  discovered  some  white 
barbarians  in  the  vicinity  who  had  dared  to  enter  his 
domain  without  a  special  permit,  and  that  they  had 
sent  a  message  to  his  highness  informing  him  that  they 
had  a  good  assortment  of  blankets,  cutlery,  pins,  need- 
les, beads,  etc. ,  which  his  people  might  need  or  desire, 
and  also  a  limited  amount  of  "fire-water,"  and  that 
they  would  be  pleased  to  receive  his  order  for  anything 
he  might  desire. 

The  fact  of  the  presence  of  these  pale-faces  in  the 
vicinity  was  at  once  communicated  to  me,  and  early 
on  the  following  morning  I  was  informed  that  if  it 
was  my  desire  to  cut  short  my  stay  at  the  palace,  the 
king  would  take  great  pleasure  in  furnishing  me 
means  of  conveyance,  a  proper  escort,  and  a  reliable 
guide  who  would  safely  conduct  me  to  the  camp  of  the 


3IO  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

accomodating  merchants  or  Indian  traders,  (but,  in 
fact,  Indian  robbers. )  Notwithstanding  my  reluctance 
in  leaving  the  society  of  the  noble  ruler  and  his  people 
I  most  readily  accepted  his  generous  offer,  and  after 
breakfast,  which  consisted  of  elk  meat  and  tobacco  root 
in  a  combination  stew  which  was  very  palatable,  a  fine 
steed  with  a  good  Mexican  saddle  and  bridle  was 
at  the  door.  My  escort,  consisting  of  four  mounted 
warriors,  was  ready,  and  after  bidding  my  good  friends 
farewell,  I  with  some  assistance  mounted  my  charger 
and  we  were  all  off  on  a  full  run,  up  and  down  hill  and 
across  valley,  at  what  seemed  to  me  a  fearful  rate. 

In  less  than  two  hours  we  entered  the  camp  of  the 
traders  at  full  speed,  dismounted,  and  found  one  man, 
a  long  Jake  from  Illinois,  who  could  speak  English. 
He  had  two  wives,  (squaws,)  and  several  children 
which  he  claimed,  but  some  of  them  were  quite  dark. 
His  name  was  John  Smith;  not  a  very  uncommon  one. 
He  VI  as  a  very  clever  man,  about  35  years  old,  was 
not  a  mormon,  but  had  taken  the  women  in  order  to 
become  popular  with  the  Indians  and  to  improve  his 
opportunities  for  trade. 

After  getting  something  to  eat,  and  learning  some- 
thing, through  Smith,  of  my  adventures,  my  escort 
made  ready  to  return  to  their  camp.  Their  trip,  as 
Smith  told  me,  was  made  solely  for  my  accomodation 
and  now  I  had  nothing  with  which  to  compensate 
tnem;  but  as  they  were  about  to  leave  I  took  a  large 
'  'bandanna, ' '  the  only  one  I  had  left,  and  tied  it  around 
the  neck  of  the  chief's  son,  he  being  one  of  the  clever 
escorts.  He  at  first  refused  to  accept  it,  but  when 
Smith  told  him  that  I  desired  him  to  take  it  as  a  token 
of  regard,  he  accepted  it  with  an  expression  of  thanks, 
and  after  I  had  bidden  them  all  good-bye,  they  rode 
away  as  rapidly  as  we  had  come.  I  will  always  hold 
that  chief  and  his  people  in  kindly  remembrance. 


DKATH  VAIvIvEY.  311 

All  of  the  other  white  men  with  Smith  were  French, 
and  all  had  plenty  of  wives  (squaws)  and  numerous 
slaves.  The  wives  were  not  slaves,  but  they  had 
slaves  all  around  them.  The  whole  tribe  traveled 
about  and  lived  much  as  other  tribes  did,  only  much 
better,  for  they  lived  by  trading  while  the  others  lived 
by  hunting  and  fishing.  In  this  camp  I  ate  bread  for 
the  first  time  in  many  weeks.  At  the  end  of  three 
days  after  my  arrival  here  a  caravan  was  ready  to 
start  for  Fort  Bridger  for  winter  supplies  for  the  trad- 
ers. I  was  furnished  with  a  good  horse  and  saddle, 
and  Smith,  one  of  the  Frenchmen,  five  slaves,  20 
horses,  and  myself  made  up  the  caravan,  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  third  day  we  reached  the  fort  where  I 
was  very  kindly  received. 

Smith  was  a  large  man,  had  a  good  head,  and  some 
cultivation  and  apparent  refinement,  and  treated  his 
women  and  children  well.  He  said  he  had  been  to 
his  old  home  in  Illinois  since  he  had  entered  upon  this 
kind  of  life,  but  was  not  contented  there  and  soon  fe- 
turned  to  his  Indian  friends.  He  and  those  French- 
men were  as  generous  and  hospitable  as  old  Southern 
planters,  and  their  kindness  to  me  will  not  be  forgot- 
ten while  my  memory  lasts. 

I  was  well  treated  at  the  fort  which  is  ir6  miles 
from  the  point  where  the  seven  dug  up  the  little  flat- 
boat  from  its  sandy  bed  on  the  fifth  day  of  August, 
just  three  months  before,  since  which  I  had  undergone 
many  hardships,  took  many  fearful  risks,  and  traveled 
more  than  a  thousand  miles,  far  enough  to  have  taken 
me  from  Green  River  to  San  Francisco. 

On  the  morning  of  the  seventh  day  of  November  I 
started  with  a  Government  train  for  Salt  Lake  City 
where  I  arrived  0.1  the  fifteenth.  I  soon  found  a  home 
with  a  prominent  mormon,  a  Scotchman  named  Archie 
Gardner,  living  in  the  fifth  ward,  on  Mill  Creek,  one 


312  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

of  the  many  small  streams  coming  down  from  the 
mountains  east  of  the  cit3^  Mr.  Gardner  was  a  clever 
gentleman  about  45  years  old,  had  a  saw-mill  up  in 
the  mountains,  and  was  then  building  a  flour  mill 
only  a  few  rods  from  his  dwelling.  I  assisted  him  in 
completing  the  little  flour  mill  and  in  attending  it 
during  the  winter.  Mr.  Gardner  had  three  wives,  all 
living  in  one  house,  but  occupying  separate  rooms  at 
night.  I  usually  attended  the  little  mill  until  mid- 
night, and  Gardner  made  it  part  of  my  duty  to  go  to 
his  house  and  call  him.  He  usually  told  me  where  I 
could  find  him,  but  not  always,  so  at  times  I  was  under 
the  necessity  of  rapping  at  more  than  one  door  before 
I  found  him. 

He  had  the  largest  house  in  the  ward,  and  the  re- 
ligious services  were  held  there  by  Bishop  Johnson 
who  also  acted  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  that  ward. 
Gardner's  family  all  ate  at  the  same  table  over  w^hich 
the  first  wife  presided.  She  was,  indeed,  mistress  of 
the  house,  the  other  wives  treating  her  with  great  re- 
spect, and  all  were,  to  all  outward  appearance,  quite 
friendly.  Gardner  bestowed  much  attention  on  his 
first  wife,  though  I  always  suspected  that  he  was  just 
a  little  more  fond  of  the  5'oungest  one,  and  I  did  not 
blame  him  much  for  she  manifested  strong  afiection 
for  him  even  in  the  presence  of  the  others,  and  yet 
there  was  no  outward  manifestation  of  jealousy. 

The  second,  or  the  one  I  will  call  the  second  because 
she  was  in  age  between  the  others,  and  was  the  mother 
of  the  third  or  youngest,  a  widowed  mother  and  her 
daughter  having  been  sealed  to  Gardner  at  the  same 
time,  the  first  wife  having  given  her  consent  and  stand- 
ing with  them  at  the  triple  matrimonial  altar,  and 
then  and  there  j  oining  in  the  sacred  ceremon5\  As  I 
was  about  to  say,  the  second  wife  seemed  to  be  pleased 
at  the  manifestation  of  afiection  for  the  common  hus- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  313 

band  by  the  youngest  wife,  and  No.  i  would  in  a 
good-humored  way  say: — "My,  Annie,  don't  be  so 
demonstrative  in  the  presence  of  other  people, ' '  when 
the  husband  would  laugh  and  go  and  kiss  No.    i. 

Gardner  spent  most  of  his  leisure  time,  particularly 
during  the  day  and  evening,  in  his  first  wife's  apart- 
ments with  her  and  her  children.  He  was  a  very  re- 
ligious man,  and  always  had  family  pra3-ers  before 
retiring  at  night,  and  all  persons  about  the  house  were 
expected  to  join,  at  least  formally,  in  this  service.  The 
use  of  profane  language  was  not  allowed  in  or  adout 
the  house. 

Many  of  the  higher  church  officers  were  entertained 
at  Gardner's  house  and  table,  among  w^hom  were 
Brigham  Young,  George  A.  Smith,  Heber  C.  Kimble^ 
George  Taylor,  and  Parley  P.  Pratt,  with  all  of  whom 
I  formed  some  acquaintance.  Brigham  was  a  digni- 
fied, clever  gentleman,  not  austere  but  kind  and  affa- 
ble. Kimble  was  also  a  nice,  genteel,  genial,  red- 
headed gentleman.  Smith  was  a  heavy  man  with  a 
very  large  abdomen,  dark  hair  fnll  beard,  exceedingly 
jovial  and  apparentl}'  always  happy.  Pratt  was  a 
small,  rather  slim,  quick  and  athletic  man,  rather  aus- 
tere, rofined,  active  and  energetic.  Taylor  was  a  large 
man,  hignly  intellectual,  and  rather  unsocial.  Kimble 
was  my  favorite  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  had 
fifteen  wives,  mostly  5'oung  and  handsome,  all  in  one 
house,  and  my  impression  is  that  none  of  them  had 
any  children.  I  think  it  was  conceded  that  his  was 
the  finest  harem  in  Utah.  He  called  me  his  young 
Gentile,  was  very  kind  and  affable,  but  he  never  in- 
vited me  to  inspect  his  harem. 

About  the  first  of  December,  1849,  Field  arrived  in 
Salt  Lake  Cit}^  and  I  will  allude  to  a  little  matter  in 
which  he  was  concerned,  after  which  I  will  give  you  a 
short  account  of  his  trip  from  the  time  we  parted  com- 


314  DEATH  VALLEY. 

paiiy  until  he  arrived  in  vSalt  Lake  as  he  afterwards 
gave  it  to  Jie.  Soon  after  he  arrived  in  the  City  of 
the  Saints  he  heard  of  another  who  had  recently  ar- 
rived from  the  south  and  that  he  was  located  in  the 
fifth  ward  on  Mill  creek  at  the  house  of  one  Gardner, 
and  at  which  house  he  soon  ai  rived. 

After  staying  with  me  for  two  or  three  days  he 
found  employment  in  the  family  of  the  Apostle  John 
Taylor.  The  family  consisted  of  seven  wives  living  in 
seven  different  houses.  How  many  children  there 
were  I  never  knew,  but  there  was  one  wife  who  did 
not  have  any.  She  was  a  fine  specimen  of  English 
beauty.  Taylor's  women  were  nearly  all  English. 
It  was  the  business  of  my  friend  to  cut  wood,  and  do 
chores  generally  for  the  Taylor  family  living  in  seven 
different  places  at  the  same  time.  Taylor  was  in 
Europe  that  winter  looking  after  the  interest  of  the 
church,  and  possibly  after  a  few  more  wives,  and  con- 
sequently could  not,  in  person,  attend  to  all  of  the 
necessities  of  the  seven  branches  of  his  family.  In 
his  daily  rounds  looking  after  the  seven  wood-piles 
and  other  little  matters  appertaining  to  the  comfort  oi 
the  family  in  so  many  places  Field  happened  to  come 
in  contact  with  the  English  beauty,  and  the  result  was, 
mutual  love  at  first  sight,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  this  woman  had  passed,  and  taken  all  of  the  sol- 
emn vows  of  the  Lym  house  with  the  Apostle  and  his 
six  other  wives. 

I  do  not  think  that  my  English  friend  had  lost  one 
iota  of  the  fond  recollection  of  his  long  since  dead 
English  wife,  the  picture  of  whom  he  still  carried  near 
his  heart;  but,  nevertheless,  he  and  this  seventh  wife 
of  the  noted  Apostle  fell  heels  over  head  in  love. 
Field,  as  you  know,  was  a  well  developed,  good-look- 
ing, intelligent  man  of  forty.  The  woman  was  well 
developed,  good-looking,  and  as  smart  as  a  steel-trap, 


DEATH  VALLEY  315 

and  both  being  English  I  was  not  at  all  surprised  at 
their  mutual  admiration  and  infatuation,  nor  did  I 
blame  them  much.  I  was  intrusted  with  many  closely 
sealed  envelopes  which  I  carried  from  one  to  the  other. 
With  my  feeble  assistance  they  tried  to  devise  some 
method  by  which  they  might  escape  from  the  city  be- 
fore the  Apostle  should  return  home;  but  the  Danites 
were  always  on  the  elert,  and  they  well  knew  that 
detection  by  the  Danites  of  ah  attempt  to  get  away- 
together  would  lead  to  certain  death  to  him,  and  if  not 
to  her  she  would  certainly  have  been  returned  to  her 
polygamous  state  of  bondage.  Spring  came  with  little 
hope  of  escape,  and  they  reluctantly  parted  with  the 
mutual  understanding  that,  if  possible,  she  would 
make  her  escape  and  go  to  Sacramento  where  he 
promised  to  keep  his  address.  Ten  months  after  the 
parting  they  had  not  met  yet,  and  if  they  ever  did  it 
was  after  I  had  lost  all  further  knowledge  of  him. 

Mormon  morals,  exclusive  of  polygamy,  are  very 
good.  I  never  saw  a  druuken  man  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  heard  very  little  profane  language  there.  The 
people  were  industrious  and  seemed  happy.  Their 
hospitality  rivaled  that  of  the  old  Southern  planters, 
and  their  charity  was  equal  to  that  of  other  Christ- 
ians. 

I  will  now  go  back  to  the  place  where  Field  and  I 
separated  on  the  mountain  top  and  give  you  a  short 
statement  as  he  gave  it  to  me,  and  while  some  things 
may  border  on  the  miraculous,  and  seem  somewhat 
incredible,  I  do  not  question  the  truth  of  his  state- 
ments. When  we  parted  so  unexpectedly  he  had 
about  half  of  the  jerked  wolf  and  mule  combined. 
I  went  north  while  he  bore  off  in  a  northeasterly  di- 
rection, and  after  traveling  for  three  days  came  to  the 
river  at  a  point  above  where  we  lost  our  flat-boat. 
He  struggled  on  up  the  river  without  road  or  trail,  and 


31 6  DEATH  VAIvIvKY. 

nothing  to  guide  him  except  the  little  compass  which 
he  still  carried  in  his  pocket. 

Two  days  more  and  his  last  bit  of  jerk  was  gone, 
starvation  began  to  stare  him  in  the  face  once  more. 
He  saw  signs  of  Indians  having  crossed  his  pathless 
course  which  gave  him  renewed  courage.  Soon  after 
starting  out  next  morning  he  was  delighted  to  see  a 
pony  in  the  distance  grazing,  and  on  coming  up  to  it 
found  one  of  its  front  legs  broken.  This,  he  said  was 
another  God-send.  The  poor  pony  seemed  to  fear  him. 
It  was  probably  an  Indian  pony,  had  its  leg  broken 
and  was  left  to  die.  He  followed  it  for  some  time  and 
finally  got  close  to  it  and  fired  his  revolver  at  its 
chest  and  wounded  it,  but  it  then  left  him  with  the 
blood  flowing  from  its  wound.  After  resting  for  a 
time  he  followed  on  and  soon  found  it  lying  down,  but 
not  dead.  He  told  me  how  innocent  and  helpless  it 
appeared,  and  looked  at  him  as  if  pleading  with  him 
not  to  inflict  any  more  pain;  but  he  felt  that  his  life 
was  in  a  balance  with  its,  and  after  a  little  meditation 
he  put  the  revolver  to  its  forehead  and  ended  its  life 
and  suffering.  Then  came  the  usual  process  of  skin- 
ning, cutting  up  and  jerking  which  took  the  balance 
of  that  day  and  part  of  the  next. 

Eight  daj'S  more  and  he  was  again  starving.  On 
the  ninth  he  arrived  at  the  spot  where  we  had  dug  up 
the  little  ferry-boat  which  carried  the  seven  advent- 
urers far  down  the  river  more  than  three  very  long 
dreary  months  before.  Snow  now  covered  the  entire 
country,  and  all  emigrants  had  long  since  gone  by. 
His  strength  was  failing  fast  but  it  would  not  do  to 
linger  there,  so  he  arose  and  was  about  to  start  when 
he  saw  a  poor  old  ox  slowly  coming  towards  him,  and 
when  it  had  come  up  near  to  him  he  discovered  a  wolf 
not  far  behind  which  seemed  to  be  following  the  ox, 
but  it  soon  turned  and  went  away.     Night  was  coming 


DEATH  VATXKY.  3.17 

on  and  he  was  very  hungry.  Something  must  be  don-e. 
The  last  cartridge  had  been  exploded  in  killing  the 
poor,  broken  legged  Indian  pony,  and  the  revolver 
was  no  longer  of  use.  The  ox,  though  feeble,  was 
probably  yet  stronger  than  the  starving  man. 

Field  feared  that  he  was  not  cble  to  catch  the  ox  by 
the  horns  and  hold  it  until  he  could  cut  its  throat,  so 
;he  next  plan  was  to  get  hold  of  the  animal's  tail  with 
one  hand,  and  with  the  big  knife  in  the  other  cut  his 
hamstrings  so  as  to  disable  him,  and  then  cut  his 
throat.  The  ox  seemed  fond  of  being  rubbed  and  pet- 
ted, so  after  a  little  time  a  firm  hold  on  the  tail  was 
secured,  and  the  big  knite  vigorously  applied,  but  it 
was  so  very  dull  that  he  could  not  sever  the  tough  old 
tendons.  After  sawing  with  the  dull  kuife  and  being 
literally  dragged  for  some  distance,  he  became  so 
much  exhausted  that  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his 
hold  and  see  the  excited  old  ox  disappear. 

In  almost  complete  despair  Field  spent  the  night 
beside  a  fire  under  one  of  those  large  cottonwoods 
which  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  remember  even  though 
it  is  now  more  than  forty  years  since  you  saw  them. 
He  rose  early  next  morning  and  started  out  on  the 
well  beaten  road  towards  the  Cxolden  West,  but  had 
only  gone  a  few  hundred  yards  when  he  was  agreeably 
surprised  to  again  behold  the  old  ox  approaching  him, 
but  so  much  exhausted  that  it  could  scarcely  walk. 
The  same,  or  some  other,  wolf  was  near  by,  and  had 
probably  followed  the  poor  old  ox  all  night.  When 
the  ox  came  close  to  Field  the  wolf  growled  and  again 
turned  away  as  on  the  evening  before.  After  the 
wolf  had  left  the  ox  seemed  to  be  relieved. 

It  then  occurred  to  the  starving  emigrant  that  he 
had  a  sharp  razor  in  his  "kitt"  with  which  he  knew 
he  could  cut  those  tough  tendons,  provided  he  could 
get  another  hold  on  that  tail.      Field,  as  you  probably 


3i8  DEATH  VAI.I.EY. 

remember,  always  kept  his  face  cleanly  shaved.  Even 
while  we  were  starving  he  would  shave  almost  every 
dav.  The  ox  was  tired  and  worn  out  and  so  was 
Field;  but  he  got  the  razor  ready  and  soon  had  hold  of 
that  tail  again.  Off  went  the  ox,  the  keen  razor  was 
applied,  soon  the  tendons  parted  and  down  went  the 
ox.  But  only  half  the  victory  was  won,  for  the  ox 
would  raise  up  on  his  front  feet  and  show  fight;  but 
after  resting  awhile  the  would-be  victor  rushed  up, 
caught  the  poor  beast  by  the  horns,  pushed  him  over 
on  his  side,  held  htm  down  and  cut  his  throat. 

After  a  long,  much  needed  rest  he  cut  out  a  piece  of 
the  poor  beef,  broiled  and  ate  it,  and  then  spent  the 
remainder  of  the  day  in  hunting  out  the  small,  lean 
muscles  that  still  remained  between  the  skin  and  bones 
of  the  poor  old  ox.  Tne  poor  beef  was  jerked  and  put 
into  the  sack  which  on  the  following  morning  was 
thrown  upon  the  back  of  its  owner,  and  from  which 
he  fed  for  the  next  six  days,  at  the  end  of  which  he 
arrived  at  Fort  Bridger.  From  there  he  soon  obtained 
a  passage  for  Salt  Lake  City,  arriving  there  on  the 
second  day  of  December,  seventeen  days  after  I  had 
reached  there,  and  finding  me  as  before  stated. 

Some  time  in  the  winter  we  formed  an  acquaintance 
of  a  gentleman  named  Jesse  Morgan,  a  Gentile,  who 
had  left  Illinois  in  the  spring  of  1849  for  California, 
but  for  some  cause  had  been  delayed  and  obliged  to 
winter  in  the  city  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints.  Morgan 
had  a  wife,  a  little  child,  a  wagon  and  two  yoke  of 
oxen,  but  no  food  nor  money.  Field  and  I  arranged 
to  furnish  food  for  all  for  the  trip  from  there  to  Sacra- 
mento, and  assist  in  camp  duties,  drive  the  team,  &c. 
We  made  the  trip  together  and  arrived  in  Sacramento 
in  good  condition  on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1850,  and 
pitched  our  tent  under,  a  large  oak  tree  where  the 
State  Capitol  now  stands. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  3^9 

I  spent  five  months  with  a  wholesale  grocery  and 
miners  supply  firm,  Elder  and  Smith,  Fourth  and  J 
streets,  Sacramento,  and  three  months  in  the  mines  as 
a  drummer,  or  solicitor  and  collector  for  the  same 
firm.  I  returned  to  Sacramento  and  was  almost  ready 
to  start  home  when  the  Scots  River  excitement  broke 
out.  I  then  went  to  the  mines  on  Trinity  River  and 
associated  myself  in  mining  with  Hiram  Oould,  a 
young  Presbyterian  clergyman  who  had  laid  aside  the 
"cloth"  for  the  time  and  engaged  in  mining.  I  re- 
mained in  the  mines  until  July  fourth,  1851,  exactly 
one  year  from  the  time  I  entered  Sacramento,  when  I 
started  home  by  way  of  Niceragua.  In  due  lime, 
after  an  interesting  trip,  I  arrived  home  and  again 
entered  upon  the  study  of  my  chosen  profession,  grad- 
uated from  an  honorable  college,  and  am  now,  as  you 
know,  practicing  my  profession  on  the  sea  shore. 

M.  S.  McMahon. 


320  DEATH  VALLEY 


CHAPTER  XIIL 


Story  of  the  Jayhawkers. 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  describing  the  trip  across 
the  deserts  and  mountains,  the  author  has  had  occas- 
ion many  times  to  refer  to  the  '  'Jayhawkers. ' '  Their 
history  is  in  man}^  respects  no  less  remarkable  and  in- 
tensely interesting  than  that  of  his  own  party.  The 
author  has  therefore  collected  many  notes  and  inter- 
views with  prominent  members  and  presents  herewith 
the  only  written  history  of  their  travels. 

The  little  train  afterward  known  by  this  name  was 
made  up  in  the  state  of  Illinois  in  1849,  of  industrious, 
enterprising  3'oung  men  who  were  eager  to  see  and 
explore  the  new  country  then  promising  gold  to  those 
who  sought.  The  young  men  were  from  Knoxville, 
Galesburg  and  other  towns.  Not  all  were  influenced 
by  the  desire  for  gold.  It  was  said  that  California  had 
a  milder  climate  and  that  pleasant  homes  could  there 
be  made,  and  the  long,  cold  winter  avoided. 

They  placed  some  of  the  best  men  in  position  to 
manage  for  the  whole.  The  outfit  was  placed  on  a 
steam- boat  and  transported  to  Kanesville,  on  the  Mis- 
souri River  above  Council  Bluffs.  Some  of  the  com- 
pany went  with  the  goods  while  others  bought  teams 
and  wagons  in  Western  Missouri  and  drove  to  the  ap- 
pointed place.  Kanesville  was  a  small  Mormon  camp, 
while  Council  Bluffs  was  a  trading  post  of  a  few  log 
cabins  on  the  river  bank,  inhabited  mostly  by  Indians. 
There  was  no  regular  ferry  at  either  place,  and  our 
party  secured  a  log  raft  which  they  used  to  get  their 
wagons  and  provisions  across,  making  the  oxen  swim. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  321 

They  asked  all  the  questions  they   could  think  of 
from  everyone  who  pretended  to  know  anything  about 
the  great  country  to  the  west  of  them,  for  it  seemed  a 
great  undertaking  to  set  out  into  the  land  they  could 
see  stretching  out  before  them  across  the  river.    Other 
parties  bound  the  same  way,  also  arrived  and  joined 
them.     They  chose  a  guide  who  claimed  to  have  been 
over  the  road  before.     When  all    were   gathered    to- 
gether the  guide  told  them  that  they  were   about    to 
enter  an  Indian  countr}^  and  that  the  dusky  residents 
did  not  alwaj's  fanc}^  the  idea  of  strangers  richer  than 
themselves  passing  through,   and   sometimes  showed 
out  some  of  the  bad  traits  the  Indians  had  been  said  to 
possess.     It  would  therefote  be  better  to  organize  and 
travel  systejiatically.     He  would  divide  the  company 
into  divisions  and  have  each  division  choose  a  captain, 
and  the  whole  company  unite  in  adopting  some  rules 
and  laws  which  they  would  all  agree  to  observe.    This 
arrangement  was  satisfactorily  accomplished,  and  they 
moved  out  in  a  sort  of  militar}'  style.     And  then  the}^ 
launched  out  on  the  almost  endless    western   prairie, 
said  then  to  l>e  a  thousand  miles  wide,  containing  few 
trees,  and  generally  unknown. 

These  Illinois  boys  were  young  and  full  of  mirth 
and  fun  wnich  was  continually  overflowing.  They 
seemed  to  think  they  were  to  be  on  a  sort  of  every  day 
picnic  and  bound  to  make  life  as  merry  and  happy  as 
it  could  be.  One  of  the  boys  was  Ed  Doty  who  was  a 
sort  of  model  tiaveler  in  this  line.  A  camp  life  suited 
him;  he  could  drive  an  ox  team,  cook  a  meal  of  vict- 
uals, turn  a  pan  of  flap-jacks  with  a  flop,  and  pos- 
sessed many  other  frontier  accomplishments.  One 
day  when  Doty  was  engaged  in  the  duty  of  cooking 
flap- jacks  another  frolicsome  fellow  came  up  and  took 
off"  the  cook's  hat  and  commenced  going  through  the 
motions  of  a  barber   giving  his  customer  a  vigorous 


322  DEATH  VAIvIvKY. 

shampoo,  saying: — ''I  am.  going  to  make  a  JayJiawker 
out  of  yon,  old  boy!'  Now  it  happened  at  the  election 
for  captain  in  this  division  that  Ed  Doty  was  chosen 
captain,  and  no  sooner  was  the  choice  declared  than 
the  boys  took  the  newly  elected  captain  on  their 
shoulders  and  carried  him  around  the  camp  introduc- 
ing him  as  the  King  Bird  of  tJie  J  ay  hawkers.  So  their 
division  was  aftei wards  known  as  The  Jayhawkers, 
but  whether  the  word  originated  with  them,  and  John 
Brown  forgot  to  give  them  credit,  or  whether  it  was 
some  old  frontier  word  used  in  sport  on  the  occasion  is 
more  than  I  wdll  undertake  to  say;  however  the  boys 
felt  proud  of  tneir  title  and  the  organization  has  been 
kept  up  to  this  day  by  the  survivors,  as  will  be  related 
further  on. 

The  first  few  days  they  got  along  finely  and  began 
to  lose  all  feeling  of  danger  and  to  become  rather  care- 
less in  their  gviard  duty.  When  the  cattle  had  eaten 
enough  and  lain  down,  the  guards  would  sometimes 
come  into  camp  and  go  to  sleep,  always  finding  the 
stock  all  right  in  the  mornfng  and  no  enemy  or  sus- 
picious persons  in  sight.  But  one  bright  morning  no 
cattle  were  in  sight,  which  was  rather  strange  as  the 
country  was  ad  prairie.  The}-  went  out  to  look,  mak- 
ing a  big  circuit  and  found  no  traces  till  they  came  to 
the  river,  whe.i  they  found  tracks  upon  the  bank  and 
saw  some  camps  across  the  river,  a  mile  or  so  away. 
Doty  had  a  small  spy  glass  and  by  rigging  up  a  tripod 
of  small  sticks  to  hold  it  steady  they  scanned  the 
camps  pretty  closel}^  and  decided  that  there  were  too 
many  oxen  for  the  wagons  in  sight. 

Some  of  the  smartest  of  them  stripped  off  their  their 
clothes  and  started  to  swim  the  stream,  but  landed  on 
the  same  side  they  started  from.  Captain  Doty  stud- 
ied the  matter  a  little  and  then  set  out  himself,  being 
a  good  swimmer,  and  by  a  little  shrewd  management 


DEATH  VALIvEY.  323 

and  swimming  up  stream  when  the  current  was  strong- 
est, soon  got  across  to  where  he  could  touch  bottom 
and  shouted  to  the  others  to  do  the  same.  Soon  all 
the  swimmers  were  across. 

They  could  now  see  that  there  were  two  trains  on 
that  side  and  that  the  farther  one  had  already  begun 
to  move  and  was  about  a  mile  in  advance  of  the  near- 
est one,  Doty  said  something  must  be  done,  and  al- 
though they  only  were  clothed  in  undershirts  they  ap- 
proached the  nearest  camp  and  were  handed  some 
overalls  for  temporary  use.  The  men  in  this  camp  on 
hearing  about  the  missing  oxen  said  the  fellows  in 
the  forward  train  went  over  and  got  them,  for,  as 
they  said  there  were  no  wagons  in  sight  and  they 
must  be  strays.  He  said  the  forward  train  was  from 
Tennessee,  and  that  they  had  some  occasion  to  doubt 
their  honesty  and  had  refused  to  travel  with  them 
any  further*  They  said  they  were  all  old  Missonrians, 
and  did  not  want  other  people's  property  and  if  the 
boys  found  their  cattle  with  the  Tenneseans,  and 
wanted  any  help  to  get  them  back  again  to  call  on 
them,  and  putting  in  some  good  strong  swear  words 
for  emphasis. 

The  boys,  barefooted  and  with  only  overalls  and 
shirts,  started  after  the  moving  train  which  they  called 
to  a  halt  when  overtaken.  The  coarse  grass  was 
pretty  hard  to  hurry  through,  clothed  as  they  were. 
The  train  men  were  pretty  gruff  and  wanted  to  know 
what  was  wanted.  Capt.  Doty  very  emphatically  told 
them  he  could  see  some  of  his  oxen  in  their  train,  and 
others  in  the  herd,  and  he  proposed  to  have  them  all 
back  again.  The  Jayhawker  boys  were  unarmed  but 
were  in  a  fighting  mood  and  determined  to  have  the 
stock  at  all  hazards,  and  if  not  peacably,  war  might 
commence.  The  boys  saw  that  the  two  trains  were  of 
about  equal  strength,  and  if  worse  came  to  worst  they 


324  DEATH  VALLEY. 

could  go  back  and  get  their  guns  and  men  and  come 
over  in  full  force  after  their  property,  and  they  were 
assured  the  Missourians  would  help  them  and  a  com- 
bination of  forces  would  give  them  a  majority  and  they 
could  not  be  beaten  by  the  Tennessee  crowd.  There 
was  a  good  deal  of  talk,  but  finally  when  Doty  de- 
manded that  their  cattle  be  unyoked  and  the  others 
seperated  from  the  herd,  they  yielded  and  gave  them 
all  their  stock,  some  seventy  head. 

The  Missourians  had  come  up  and  heard  the  talk, 
and  some  of  them  went  back  and  helped  drive  the  cat- 
tle to  the  river,  and  deal  out  some  double  shotted 
thunder  against  the  biggest  scamps  they  had  come 
across.  It  was  quite  a  job  to  get  the  cattle  across  the 
river.  They  would  go  in  a  little  way  and  then  circle 
round  and  round  like  a  circus,  making  no  progress. 
They  finally  put  a  rope  on  one  of  them  and  a  man  led 
him  as  far  as  he  could,  which  was  more  than  halfway, 
and  although  they  landed  a  good  ways  down  stream, 
they  got  them  all  across  safely,  left  their  borrowed 
overalls  in  the  hands  of  their  friends,  with  a  thousand 
thanks  for  valuable  assistance,  and  plunged  into  the 
swift  running  Platte,  and  swam  back  again  to  the 
northern  side.  The^  drove  the  straggling  oxen  back 
to  camp  with  a  sense  of  great  satisfaction,  and  in  turn 
received  the  praise  of  their  friends  who  said  that  Ed 
Doty  was  the  best  Jayhawker  of  the  border. 

This  was  the  first  unpleasantness  and  they  were  af- 
terwards more  cautious  and  stood  guard  all  night, 
watching  closely  all  the  time,  both  night  and  day,  for 
for  any  signs  of  danger.  Thus  in  time  they  reached 
Salt  Lake,  rather  late  in  the  season,  but  safe  and 
sound,  having  escaped  cholera  or  other  disease,  and  in 
good  spirits  to  surmount  any  further  difficulties  which 
might  be  met. 

When  the  Jayhawkers  reached   Salt    Lake   it   was 


DEATH  VAI.I.EY.  325 

found  that  it  was  not  safe  to  try  to  go  the  regular 
northern  route  to  California,  as  they  were  advised  by 
those  who  seemed  to  know,  as  they  might  be  snowed 
in  on  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  and  perish.  The 
Mormons  told  them  that  the  snow  often  fell  there 
twenty  feet  deep,  and  some  other  stories  likely  to  de- 
ter them  from  making  the  attempt.  They  also  told 
them  of  a  route  farther  south  by  which  they  could 
come  into  California  at  I^os  Angeles,  or  they  could  re- 
main in  Salt  Lake  until  May  when  it  would  be  safe  to 
try  the  mountain  route  again.  After  listening  to  the 
talk  of  the  mountaineers  who  claimed  to  have  been 
over  the  route  and  to  know  all  about  it,  and  camping 
some  time  to  rest  and  learn  all  they  could,  they  finally 
decided  on  taking  the  southern  route.  One  Mormon 
told  them  of  a  place  where  they  could  make  a  cut-off 
and  save  five  hundred  miles,  and,  if  they  would  follow 
his  instructions,  they  would  find  the  route  fully  as 
good  as  the  one  usually  traveled  which  was  not  much 
better  than  a  trail.  The  cut-ofF  was  so  instilled  into 
their  minds  that  they  had  great  confidence  in  the  re- 
port and  talked  ver}'  favorably  of  taking  it. 

The  man  Williams  made  for  them  a  map  of  the 
proposed  route  and  explained  it  to  them  and  others 
who  had  gathered  at  Salt  Lake,  and  from  the  map 
they  could  see  how  much  was  to  be  gained  in  time  and 
distance  by  taking  that  route.  A  month  or  two  of 
travel  was  indeed  something  to  gain,  and  as  the  roads 
seemed  similar  in  quality  the  reasoning  was  very  plaus- 
ible. The  map  explained  all  the  watering  places  and 
favorable  things  but  said  nothing  about  a  desert,  and 
as  there  was  no  one  to  tell  them  any  unfavorable  side 
to  this  plan  there  were  many  who  quite  concluded  to 
go  this  way,  and  among  those  who  did  so  were  the 
Jayhawkers,  and  the  "Williams  Short  Route"  was 
freely  talked  about  as  a  settled  thing  by  them. 


326  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

They  now  set  about  preparing  to  move.  They  sold, 
traded,  and  bought  oxen  till  they  had  the  best  and  fat- 
test teams  in  Salt  Lake  Valley;  selested  good  provis- 
ions, and  plenty  of  them  so  as  to  be  safe  in  case  of  de- 
lay, and  contended  that  nothing  could  stop  them  in  a 
country  where  but  little  snow  could  be,  and  water 
was  as  plentiful  as  shown  on  the  map.  Tney  wanted 
to  reach  the  gold  mines  and  this  was  the  shortest  route 
and  even  if  it  was  still  considerbly  longer  than  the 
northern  way  they  said  they  would  rather  be  moving 
along  and  thus  gain  time  than  to  so  long  in  camp  with 
nothing  to  do  by  which  they  could  earn  a  cent.  There 
were  here  in  Salt  Lake  ten  times  as  many  men  as 
could  find  employment,  and  Brigham's  saints  would 
be  pretty  sure  to  get  all  of  the  odd  jobs  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  heretics. 

To  bring  the  matter  to  a  determination  a  paper  was 
drawn  up  for  those  to  sign  who  wanted  to  go  the 
southern  route  and  it  was  pretty  generally  signed. 
The  mormon  elder,  John  Hunt,  was  consulted,  and  as 
he  seemed  to  know  the  general  southern  route  better 
than  any  one  else,  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  guide  the 
tram  through  on  the  old  Spanish  Trail.  This  had 
never  been  used  as  a  wagon  road,  but  he  thought  it 
could  be  without  much  difficulty,  and  he  said  if  they 
could  secure  him  a  fair  sized  train  he  would  go  and 
conduct  them  through  for  ten  dollars  a  wagon.  This 
proposition  was  accepted  after  some  consideration,  and 
all  who  wished  to  do  so  were  given  permission  to  join 
the  train.  In  a  few  days  there  were  one  hundred  and 
seven  wagons  enlisted  for  this  route,  including  seven 
mormons  bound  for  San  Bernardino. 

Preparations  for  the  trip  now  began  in  good  earnest, 
and  the  Saints  were  liberally  patronized  in  purchase 
of  flour  and  meat  which  were  the  principal  things  they 
had  to  sell.     As  their  several  wagons  were  loaded  they 


DEATH  VALLEY.  327 

moved  out  in  small  lots  to  the  south  to  keep  in  good 
fresh  feed  for  their  animals,  and  to  move  on  slowh'  till 
all  were  ready,  when  thej^  would  join  in  one  large 
body  and  proceed.  The  guide  was  in  no  special  haste 
as  he  said  he  wanted  to  wait  a  little  later  so  the  wea- 
in  the  south  would  be  cooler  than  thej-  would  be  likely 
to  find  it  if  they  pressed  on  at  once.  He  said  that  in 
summer  it  was  so  hot  that  no  white  man  could  endure 
the  heat.  He  said  they  could  work  slowly  along  the 
trail,  and  when  the  right  time  came  he  would  move 
out  himself,  and  that  they  might  be  assured  that  it 
would  then  be  the  coolest  and  best  time  in  which  to 
travel  down  there.  So  the  company  dallied  along, 
and  it  was  October  before  the  whole  train  was  made 
up  at  a  point  about  a  hundred  miles  south  of  Salt 
Lake. 

The  complete  organization  was  divided  into  seven 
divisions,  each  with  its  captain,  and  division  No.  i 
was  to  lead  the  march  the  first  day  and  then  fall  to 
the  rear  while  No.  2  took  the  advance,  and  so  contin- 
ued till  all  had  taken  their  turn.  The  leading  party 
was  to  guard  and  care  for  the  cattle  and  deliver  them 
in  the  morning.  The  regulations  were  read  aloud  to 
the  captains,  and  this  rather  large  army  of  men,  wo- 
men and  children,  with  about  five  hundred  head  of 
stock,  moved  out  very  systematically.  It  would  some- 
times be  fully  ten  o'clock  before  the  rear  division 
could  make  a  start,  and  correspondingly  late  before 
they  could  get  up  with  the  main  camp  at  night.  They 
got  along  very  well,  but  cleaned  the  country  of  grass 
for  some  distance  each  side  of  the  trail,  as  they  swept 
along. 

About  the  first  of  November  Capt.  Smith  overtook 
us  with  the  pack  train,  and  camped  with  us  at  night. 
He  formed  many  acquaintances  and  told  them  he  was 
going  to  take  a  shorter  route  and  save  five  hundred 


328  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

miles,  rather  than  take  the  long  route  by  way  of  Ivos 
Angeles.  He  had  a  map  of  his  proposed  route,  and  it 
was  very  much  like  the  one  we  had.  He  also  stated 
that  it  conld  probably  be  as  easily  traveled  as  the 
one  by  way  of  Los  Angeles,  and  as  a  consequence 
of  his  talk,  cut-off  fever  began  to  rage  in  camp  again. 
Some  got  very  enthusiastic  in  the  matter  and  spoke 
publicly  in  favor  of  following  Capt.  Smith  when  he 
should  come  to  the  place  when  his  short  route  turned 
away  from  the  other  trail.  His  plan  grew  so  much  in 
favor  that  when  the  placewas  reached  a  hundred  wag- 
ons turned  out  into  the  Smith  trail,  leaving  Capt. 
Hunt  only  the  seven  Mormon  wagon  bound  for  San 
Bernardino,  Hunt  stood  at  the  forks  of  the  road  as  the 
wagons  went  by  and  said  to  them; — "Good-bye, 
friends.  I  cannot,  according  to  my  agreement  go  with 
yovi,  for  I  was  hired  for  this  road,  and  no  other  was 
mentioned.  I  aui  in  duty  bound  to  go  even  if  only 
one  wagon  decides  to  go. ' '  When  the  last  wagon  had 
passed  him  he  still  stood  talking  with  several  who  had 
chosen  the  new  way  and  told  them  they  were  taking 
a  big  risk,  for  they  did  not  know  very  much  about 
the  route,  and  he  had  been  thinking  that  they  might 
find  it  pretty  rough  and  hard  to  get  over  the  first 
time.  He  said  that  if  all  decided  to  go  that  way  he 
would  go  and  help  them,  even  if  they  went  to  h— 11, 
but  as  it  was  he  could  not.  He  wished  them  luck 
and  the  two    trains  parted  company. 

At  the  end  of  three  days  of  travel  on  the  Smith 
trail  they  came  to  the  top  of  a  long  steep  hill.  The 
trail  went  down  and  down,  and  they  see  no  way  of 
crossing  the  terribly  deep  cafion  that  was  before  them. 
So  they  went  into  camp  and  sent  explorers  out  to  in 
vestigate  and  find  a  crossing  if  possiple. 

On  the  second  day  the   explorers   began   to   return 
with  very  unfavorable  reports,  and    many    who  found 


DEATH  VALLEY.  329 

their  progress  thus  blocked  turned  about  and  started 
to  follow  Hunt.  Most  of  the  wagons  which  remained 
had  each  one  or  more  of  their  men  out  exploring  and 
could  not  turn  back  until  their  return.  Several  of 
the  Jayhawkers  having  once  started  on  this  route 
were  very  anxious  to  get  through  on  it  if  a  way  could 
be  found  for  them  to  do  it,  and  therefore  searched  far- 
ther and  with  greater  determination  than  the  others. 
When  they  returned  they  reported  they  had  found  a 
way  around  the  head  of  the  canon  and  they  believed 
it  to  be  the  right  way.  The  map  Williams  had  given 
them  did  not  show  this  canon  and  they  believed  it  to 
be  correct,  and  that  the  real  road  led  around  at  the 
place  which  they  had  found,  and  no  further  trouble 
would  be  met. 

Acting  on  this  report  about  twenty  wagons,  includ- 
ing the  Jayhawkers,  concluded  to  go  ahead.  "We 
can  beat  the  other  fellows  a  month,"  said  they,  and 
so  they  hitched  up  and  pulled  out  in  a  northerly  di- 
rection, feeling  in  good  spirits  and  hopeful  of  success. 

They  named  this  place  Mt.  Misery.  While  camped 
here  a  lone  and  seemingly  friendless  man  died  and 
was  buried.  None  seem  now  to  remember  his  name, 
but  think  he  was  from  Kentucky.  He  was  low  with 
consumption  and  not  strong  enough  to  endure  the 
hardships  of  the  journey. 

About  the  third  night  the  Jayhawkers  were  over- 
taken by  seven  more  wagons  owned  by  A.  Bennett 
and  friends,  J.  B.  Arcane  and  family,  two  men  named 
Earhart  and  a  son  of  one  of  them,  and  one  or  two 
other  wagons. 

The  Jay  hawker's  train  was  made  up  of  men  from 
many  states,  but  seemed  well  iniited  and  was  as  com- 
plete as  when  they  first  started.  The  Author  was 
with  the  party  that  came  up  in  the  rear,  which  had 
started  later  but  traveled  faster  on  account  of  having 


330  DEATH  VAIvI.EY. 

a  road  broken  for  them.  He  visited  the  leaders  in 
camp  when  they  were  discussing  the  necessity  of 
forming  a  new  travelling  compact  to  help  and  protect 
each  other  on  the  road.  Those  who  had  no  families 
were  objecting  to  being  bound  to  those  who  had  wo- 
men and  children  with  them.  They  argued  that  the 
road  would  be  hard  and  difficult  and  those  wagons 
with  women  and  children  would  require  more  assist- 
ance than  they  would  be  able  to  render  in  return. 
Thej^  said  they  could  go  back  and  follow  Hunt  who 
was  on  a  better  road  and  they  could  proceed  with 
more  safely. 

Among  those  with  this  train  was  Rev.J.W.  Brier,  his 
wife  and  three  children.  He  objected  to  being  turned 
back  and  said  he  did  not  want  to  be  assisted,  buf" 
would  go  with  them  and  do  his  part  and  take  care  of 
himself.  The  Author  listened  to  the  various  speeches 
without  speaking  and  became  satisfied  that  it  would  end 
in  every  one  looking  out  for  himself  in  case  of  hard 
times.  He  went  over  to  their  camp  again  the  next 
night  and  wished  to  ask  them  why  they  were  steer- 
ing so  neal}'  due  north.  He  said  to  them  that  they 
were  going  toward  Salt  I^ake  rather  than  California, 
and  that  the  Bennet  party  did  not  feel  inclined  to 
follow  them  any  farther  in  that  direction.  They  re- 
plied that  their  map  told  them  to  go  north  a  day  or 
more  and  then  they  would  find  the  route  as  repre- 
sented. They  would  then  turn  west  and  reach  Ow- 
en's L,ake  and  from  there  there  would  be  no  more 
trouble.  The  Jayhawker  crowd  seemed  to  think  they 
could  go  an3'where  and  no  difficulty  could  happen 
which  they  couldn't  overcome.  Bennett's  little  train 
turned  west  from  this  point  and  the  Jayhawkers 
went  on  north,  but  before  night  they  changed  their 
minds  and  came  following  on  after  Bennett  whom 
they  overtook  and  passed,  again  taking  the  lead. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  331 

Thus  far  the  country  had  been  well  watered  and 
furnished  plenty  of  grass,  and  most  of  them  talked 
and  believed  that  this  kind  of  rolling  country  would 
last  all  the  way  through.  The  men  at  leisure  scat- 
tered around  over  the  hills  on  each  side  of  the  route 
taken  by  the  train,  and  in  advance  of  it,  hunting  camp- 
ing places  and  making  a  regular  picnic  of  it.  There 
were  no  hardships,  and  one  man  had  a  fiddle  which 
he  tuned  up  evenings  and  gave  plenty  of  fine  music. 
Joy  and  happiness  seemed  tht,  rule,  and  all  of  the 
train  were  certainly  having  a  good  time  of  it. 

But  gradually  there  came  a  change  as  the  wagon 
wheels  rolled  westward.  The  valleys  seemed  to  have 
no  streams  in  them,  and  the  mountain  ranges  grew 
more  and  more  broken,  and  in  the  lower  ground  a  dry- 
lake  could  be  found,  and  water  and  grass  grew  scarce— 
so  much  so  that  both  men  and  oxen  suffered.  These 
dry  lake  beds  deceived  them  many  times.  They 
seemed  as  if  containing  plent}-  of  water,  and  off"  the 
men  would  go  to  explore.  They  usually  found  the 
distance  to  them  about  three  times  as  far  as  they  at 
first  supposed,  and  when  at  last  they  reached  them 
they  found  no  waier,  but  a  dr}-,  shining  bed,  smooth 
as  glass,  but  just  clay,  hard  as  a  rock.  Most  of  these 
dry  lakes  showed  no  outlet,  nor  any  inlet  for  that  mat- 
ter, though  at  some  period  in  the  past  they  must  have 
been  full  of  water.  Nothing  grew  in  the  shape  of 
^vegetables  or  plants  except  a  .small,  stunted,  bitter 
brush. 

Away  to  the  west  and  north  there  was  much  broken 
countr}',  the  mountain  ranges  higher  and  rougher  and 
more  barren,  and  from  almost  everj'^  sightly  elevation 
there  appeared  one  or  more  of  these  dry  lake  beds. 
One  night  after  about  three  days  of  travel  the  whole 
of  the  train  of  twenty  seven  wagons  was  camped  along 
the  bank  of  one  of  these  lakes,  this  one  with   a  very 


332  DEATH  VALLEY. 

little  water  in  it  not  more  than  one  fourth  or  one  half 
an  inch  in  depth,  and  yet  spread  out  to  the  width  of 
a  mile  or  more'  It  was  truly  providential,  for  by  dig- 
ging holes  along  the  bolder  the  watet  would  run  into 
them  and  prove  abundant  for  all,  both  oxen  and  men. 
If  it  had  proved  dry,  as  so  many  before  had  proved, 
or  if  we  had  been  a  few  days  earlier  or  later  we  might 
not  have  found  a  drop.  This  proved  to  be  the  last 
time  the  whole  twenty  seven  wagons  were  gathered  in 
one  camp  together. 

The  Author  came  into  camp  about  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening  after  climbing  many  peaks  and  taking  a 
survey  of  the  surrounding  country  with  a  field  glass. 
Men  from  nearly  every  mess  came  to  him  to  inquire 
what  he  had  seen.  They  asked  all  sorts  of  questions 
and  wanted  an  opinion  as  to  the  advisability  of  trail- 
ing across  the  prairie  directly  west,  which  then  seemed 
easy.  They  were  told  that  from  what  could  be  seen 
from  the  summit  of  buttes  both  north  and  south  of  the 
camp,  ranging  a  hundred  or  so  miles  in  almost  every 
direction,  it  was  believed  no  water  could  be  found,  be- 
tween the  present  camp  and  a  range  of  mountains 
which  could  be  seen  crossing  the  route  far  to  the  west. 
"Well,"  said  Capt.  Doty  of  the  Jayhawkers,  "I  don't 
like  to  hear  such  discouraging  talk  from  Manley,  but  I 
think  we  will  have  to  steer  straight  ahead.  The  pros- 
pect for  water  seems  to  be  about  the  same,  west  or 
south,  and  I  cannot  see  that  we  would  better  ourselves 
by  going  north."  When  morning  came  Capt.  Doty 
and  his  party  yoked  up  and  set  out  straight  across  the 
desert,  leaving  seven  wagons  of  the  Bennett  party 
still  in  camp. 

For  some  time  all  of  us  had  seen  in  the  range  a- 
head  an  appearance  of  a  pass,  or  lower  place  in  the 
mountain,  and  we  had  got  to  calling  it  Martin's  Pass, 
naming  it  after  Jim  Martin.     There  was  a  snow-capped 


DEATH  VALLEY.  333 

peak  just  to  the  south  of  it  and  the  pass,  now  appar- 
ently  exactly  west  of  the  lake  camp,  seemed  to  the 
Jayhawkers  easy  to  reach.  Their  wills  were  strong 
enough  aud  they  were  running  over  with  beterminatiou 
and  energy  enough  to  carry  them  over  any  plain,  no 
matter  how  dry  or  barren,  or  over  any  mountain  no 
matter  how  rugged  and  steep. 

Five  days  they  traveled,  without  finding  water,  and 
small  supply  they  took  along  had  been  consumed. 
For  lack  of  water  they  could  not  eat  or  sleep.  The 
oxen  gathered  round  the  little  fire  and  seemed  to  beg 
for  water,  they  had  no  cud  to  chew  unless  it  was  the 
cud  of  disappointment-  The  range  of  mountains  the}^ 
had  been  aiming  for  still  seemed  far  away  and  the  poss- 
ible show  for  reaching  it  seemed  very  p^or  indeed,  and 
the  prospect  of  any  water  hole  between  them  and  tlie 
mountains  poorer  yet.  Hope  was  pretty  near  gone. 
Martins  mess  unyoked  their  oxen  from  the  wagons,, 
put  .some  small  packs  on  their  own  backs,  and  loaded, 
some  upon  the  backs  of  the  oxen,  and  turned  south, 
toward  the  nearest  snowy  mountain  they  could  see, 
the  same  one  towards  which  the  Bennett  party  steered 
from  the  lake  camp. 

The  Doty  party  kept  their  courage  longer  and  kept 
on  straight  ahead  for  another  day,  and  then  camped, 
almost  without  hope.  No  rest  came  to  them,  nor 
--^leep.  Towards  morning  as  they  stood  around  the  fire 
aVray  cloud  appeared  and  hid  the  stars,  and  shortly 
after  began  to  unload  a  cargo  of  snow  it  carried. 
They  spread  out  every  blanket,  and  brushed  up  ever\ 
bit  they  could  from  the  smooth  places,  kindled  a  lit  tie 
fire  of  brush  under  the  camp  kettles  and  melted  all  the 
•snow  all  of  them  could  gather,  besides  filling  tlitir 
mouths  as  fast  as  ever  they  could,  hoping  that  it  would 
fall  in  sufficient  quantities  to  satisfy  themselves  and 
the  oxen,  and  quench  their  dreadful    thirst.     Slowly 


334.  DEATH  VALLEY 

the  cloud  moved  scattering  the  snowflakes  till  they 
felt  relieved.  The  last  time  the  Author  conversed 
with  a  member  of  this  party  was  in  1892,  and  it  was 
conceded  that  this  storm  saved  the  lives  of  both  man 
and  beast  in  that  little  band  of  Jayhawkers.  It  was 
like  manna  falling-  from  Heaven,  and  as  surely  saved 
their  lives  as  did  the  manna  of  the  Bible  save  the  lives 
of  the  tribes  of  Israel  They  had  no  reason  to  expect 
a  storm  of  rain  or  snow,  but  came  to  them  just  as  they 
were  perishing.  A  little  further  on  they  came  to  a 
small  stream  of  water,  and  as  the  bed  showed  only  a 
recent  flow  it  must  also  have  come  from  the  little  local 
storm  further  up  the  mountain.  They  used  this  water 
freely,  even  though  it  was  not  very  good,  and  it  acted 
on  them  very  much  like  a  solution  of  Glauber  Salts. 

They  decided  at  first  that  ihey  had  better  follow  the 
stream  southward,  but  after  a  little  time,  feeling  the 
sickness  caused  by  the  water,  they  saw  it  was  no  ad- 
vantage and  turned  west  again,  bearing  to  the  north 
toward  a  sort  of  pass  they  could  now  see  in  the  mount- 
ains in  that  direction.  This  stream  is  now  known  as 
the  Amargosa,  or  bitter,  river. 

The  new  direction  in  which  they  marched  gave 
them  an  up-hill  route  for  thirty  or  forty  miles,  rough 
and  barren,  with  no  water  or  grass.  There  was  no 
road  or  trail  to  follow,  the  oxen  were  as  weak  as  their 
owners  from  drinking  the  bitter  water,  and  the  road 
needed  some  clearing  and  breaking  in  places  before 
the  wagons  could  pass.  They  moved  quite  slowly 
and  reached  the  summit  on  the  second  night  with  the 
loss  of  a  single  ox.  The  Author  would  say  here  that 
this  was  the  lasi  ox  which  was  allowed  to  die  without 
using  the  flesh  for  food,  and  it  was  from  this  same  one 
he  cut  a  steak    to  eat  on  Christmas  eve,  1849. 

From  the  summit  they  took  a  way  down  a  dark, 
deep  cafiou  having  a  steep  slope,  and  very  rocky  and 


DEATH  VALLEY.  335 

bad,  but  down  which  the  oxen  drew  their  loads  nuich 
easier  than  when  they  came  up,  reaching  water  on  the 
third  day,  where  there  were  many  springs,  and  a  sort 
of  coarse  grass  for  the  oxen.  The  place  is  now  known 
as  Furnace  Creek.  The  Jayhawkers  passed  on,  and 
here  at  these  very  springs  was  where  the  Author  over- 
took the  Rev.  J.  W.  Brier  delivering  a  lecture  to  his 
children  on  the  benefits  of  an  early  education,  as  re- 
ferred to  in  his  narrative. 

As  the  Jayhawkers  drove  out  of  this  Furnace  Creek 
Canon  the  valley  into  which  they  came  was  very  nar- 
row, the  high,  snow-capped  mountain  before  them 
seemed  steeper  and  rougher  than  ever,  so  steep  in  fact 
that  it  could  not  be  ascended  by  a  man  on  foot.  A 
short  distance  below  could  be  seen  a  lake  containing 
water,  and  the  pass  toward  which  they  had  been  di- 
recting their  course  seemed  to  the  north  of  them. 
They  therefore  turned  their  cou^'se  in  that  direction. 
The  road  was  sandy,  and  the  brush  that  grew  on  it 
was  onl}^  a  few  inches  high.  On  their  way  they  came 
to  an  abandoned  Indian  camp  occupied  by  one  poor 
old  blind  red  man.  He  would  hold  his  mouth  open 
like  a  young  bird  begging  for  something  to  eat.  One 
man  dropped  kernels  of  parched  corn  into  his  mouth, 
but  instead  of  eating  them  he  quickly  S])it  them  out; 
it  seemed  that  he  had  been  left  to  die  and  could  not  or 
would  not.  His  hair  was  white  as  snow.  Hi.s  skin 
looked  about  the  color  of  a  smoked  ham,  and  so  cri])- 
pled  was  he  that  he  crawled  about  like  a  beast,  on  all 
fours.  It  was  barely  possible  that  he  had  been  left  to 
walch,  and  that  his  great  infirmities  were  only  pre- 
tended, but  they  seemed  genuine  enough,  and  were 
doubtless  true.  They  left  him  in  peacable  pos.sessiou 
of  the  spot  and  traveled  on. 

They  approached  the  base  of  the  mountain  in  front 
of  what  they  had  all  along  supposed  to  be  a  pass,  and 


336  DEATH  VALLEY. 

found,  as  they  had  lately  begun  to  suspect,  that  there 
was  no  pass  that  their  wagons  could  be  taken  through, 
and  they  must  be  abandoned.  The  camp  was  poor. 
What  little  water  there  was  had  a  salty  taste,  and  they 
could  only  find  here  and  there  a  bunch  of  the  poorest 
grass.  The  oxen  stood  around  as  if  utterly  dispirited, 
and  would  sometimes  make  a  faint  effort  to  pick  up 
and  eat  some  of  the  dry  brush  that  grew  around  the 
desolate  camp.  This  camp  is  now  known  to  be  in  the 
northern  part  of  Death  Valley,  but  then  they  knew  no 
names  for  anything,  but  if  dreariness  and  absence  of 
life,  and  threatened  danger  all  around  were  any  indi- 
cation, they  might  well  have  named  it  Death  Valley 
as  was  afterwards  done  by  the  party  with  whom  the 
Author  traveled. 

The  party  had  been  brave  till  now,  but  when  they 
realized  that  they  must  make  pack  animals  of  them- 
.selves,  and"  trudge  on,  they  knew  not  where,  perhaps 
to  only  a  lingering  death,  the  keen  edge  of  disappoint- 
ment cut  close,  and  they  realized  how  desolate  they 
were.  They  felt  much  inclined  to  attribute  all  their 
troubles  to  the  advice  of  the  Mormons.  Some  said 
that  the  plan  was  thus  to  wipe  so  many  more  hated 
Gentiles  out  of  the  way,  and  wishes  were  deep  and 
loud  that  the  Mormons  might  all  be  buried  out  of 
sight  in  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  They  thought  Lot's 
wife  must  have  been  turned  to  salt  in  the  ueighbor- 
liood,  everything  was  so  impregnated  with  saline  sub- 
stances, and  the  same  result  might  come  to  them. 
But  the  inherent  manhood  of  the  little  Ijand  came  to 
their  relief  and  they  determined  not  to  die  without  a 
struggle  for  escape  and  life. 

They  killed  some  of  their  oxen,  and  took  the  wood 
of  their  wagons  and  kindled  fires  to  dry  and  smoke 
the  flesh  so  it  would  be  light  and  easy  to  carry  with 
them.      They  scattered  all  surplus  baggage  around  the 


DEATH  VALLEY.  337 

ground,  careful!)'  storing  and  saving  the  bit  of  bread 
that  yet  remained  and  dividing  it  equally  among  the 
party.  They  also  divided  the  tea,  coffee,  rice  and 
some  such  things,  and  each  one  agreed  that  he  could 
not  ask  aught  of  his  neighbor  more.  Knapsacks  were 
improvised  from  parts  of  the  wagon  canvas,  and  long 
strips  of  canvas  were  made  into  a  sort  of  pack  harness 
for  the  oxen.  It  was  a  sad  sight  to  see  the  strong  and 
vigorous  5'oung  men  of  a  few  days  ago  reduced  to 
such  straits;  almost  skeletons  now,  with  no  hope  of 
nourishment  to  invigorate  them.  They  made  canteens 
by  sewing  a  couple  of  small  powder  cans  in  cloth, 
with  a  band  to  go  over  the  shoulders" 

The  Jayhawkers  were  still  making  their  prepara- 
tions when  the  Martin  party  and  Rev.  J.  W.  Brier 
and  famil)'  came  up  to  their  camp,  having  taken  a 
circuit  around  farther  to  the  south.  The  Martin  party 
was  already  in  marching  order  and  this  camp  was  so 
poor  that  they  did  not  wait,  but  gave  all  their  oxen 
they  had  left  to  Mr.  Brier  and  said  they  could  get  on 
faster  without  them.  They  took  a  straight  course 
over  the  hills  and  up  the  mountain,  saying  they 
believed  they  had  provisions  enough  upon  their  backs 
to  last  them  through,  and  that  nothing  should  check 
their  progress  till  they  reached  the  other  side,  where 
they  said  were  fertile  valleys  and  plenty  of  chance  to 
live. 

\  The  Doty  part}',  or  Jayhawkers,  when  they  were 
ready  started  first  a  northerly  course  to  find  a  more 
favorable  place  to  cross  the  range  and  drove  their 
oxen  with  them,  each  with  a  small  pack.  They  soon 
came  to  some  good  water,  and  after  refreshing  them- 
selves turned  westward  to  cross  the  great  mountain 
defore  them.  Both  men  and  oxen  were  shod  with 
mocassins  made  of  raw-hide  to  protect  the  feet  against 
sharp  rocks.     They    could    see   no    trail    but    merely 


338  DEATH  VALLEY. 

picked  out  the  best  way  to  go.  While  climbing  the 
steep  mountain  side  they  came  across  a  dead  ox  left 
by  some  party  that  had  gone  before  them.  They  cut 
out  the  tongue  and  some  of  the  best  meat  and  ate  it  to 
eke  out  their  own  small  stock,  and  carried  some  pieces 
with  them,  but  soon  threw  it  all  away  but  enough  for 
a  roast  for  supper. 

When  it  was  getting  dark  they  were  almost  at  the 
summit,  but  there  was  no  good  camping  place,  and 
they  saw  a  small  fire  light  at  a  little  distance  and 
went  to  it,  finding  a  poor  lone  camper  taking  care  of 
himself.  They  camped  here  also.  It  seemed  as  if  there 
were  many  men  from  the  various  parties  scattered  all 
around  the  country,  each  one  seeking  out  the  path 
which  seemed  to  suit  best  his  tender  feet  or  present 
fancy,  steering  west  as  well  as  mountains  and  canon 
would  permit, some  farther  north,  some  farther  south 
and  generally  demoralized,  each  thinking  that  as  a 
last  resort  he  would  be  able  to  save  his  own  life.  It 
seemed  to  be  a  question  of  will  and  endurance,  strong 
hearts  and  keeping  the  body  in  motion.  The  weak 
and  faint  must  fail,  and  the  strong  said  to  the  weak; — 
"Stand  up;  be  a  man;  don't  fall  down;"  and  so  the 
strong  spurred  on  the  weak  and  kept  them  up  as  best 
they  could. 

Down  the  mountain  they  went,  on  the  west  side  and 
instead  of  Los  Angeles,  which  some  of  them  expected 
to  see,  they  saw  only  a  salt  lake  in  the  midst  of  a  bar- 
ren desert  valley  and  their  route  lay  directly  across  it. 
They  traveled  in  several  directions  as  they  went  across. 
One  went  across  the  valley  on  a  .strip  of  dried  mud 
between  two  small  lakes.  Others  followed  down  along 
the  east  side  of  the  lake  near  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
where  they  found  some  good  water  and  an  old  Indian 
camp.  They  found  some  mosquite  beans,  which 
they  did  not  know  were  of  much  use,  but  really, if  they 


DEATH  VALI.EY.  339 

had  known  how  to  fix    them  up    a    little  they  would 
have  been  good  food. 

Capt.  Doty's  mess  crossed  between  the  lakes  on  the 
strip  of  dry  mud  while  others  went  on  where  it 
was  still  soft  and  left  marks  of  their  foot-steps.  Both 
parties  turned  up  a  small  caficu  on  the  west  side  and 
began  the  ascent  of  a  black  and  barren  range,  contain- 
ing no  water,  but  in  the  bed  of  the  ravine  near  the 
summit  they  found  some  damp  sand  and  tried  to  dig 
with  their  hands  to  find  some  of  the  precious  fluid. 
But  no  water  came,  and  in  the  morning  one  of  their 
number  Mr.  Fish  died  and  was  left  unburied  on  the 
barren  rocks.  No  doubt  his  bones  could  be  found  there 
to-day. 

Turning  west  again,  thty  had  a  down  grade  over 
a  most  barren  and  rocky  road  for  many  miles  The 
prospect  from  this  point  was  any  thing  but  cheering. 
To  the  left  a  large  lake  could  be  seen,  and  from  their 
previous  experience  they  concluded  it  to  be  salt,  and 
the  valley  they  were  coming  to  was  very  sandy,  and 
the  hardest  sort  of  footing  for  men  and  animals  as 
weak  as  those  of  the  party  were.  It  must  be  crossed 
before  there  was  any  possibility  of  water,  and  when 
across  it  was  quite  uncertain  whether  they  could  ob- 
tain any.  One  of  their  number  had  already  died  of 
thirst  and  fatigue  and  all  were  suffering  terribly. 

The  valley  seemed  about  eight  miles  across,  and  be- 
fore they  were  half  way  over  Mr.  Ischam,  one  of 
their  party  sat  down,  ])erfectly  exhausted,  and  said  he 
could  not  take  another  step.  No  one  was  able  to  as- 
sist him  or  give  him  a  drink  of  water,  and  they  could 
not  tarry  to  see  if  rest  would  refresh  him.  They  could 
only  look  sadly  at  him  and  and  pass  on  in  silence,  for 
he  seemed  fast  wasting  away.  The  thought  came  to 
everyone  that  perhaps  it  would  be  his  turn  next  to  sit 
down  and  see  the  others  pass  on.      In  fact  the  probab- 


340  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

ility  of  any  more  of  them  living  another  day  was  verj- 
po3r,  for  they  all  grew  weaker  and  weaker  with  every 
hour,  and  no  one  knew  how  many  hours  must  pass 
before  they  could  hope  for  water.  There  was  not 
moi'"ture  enough  in  their  poor  bodies  to  make  tears, 
and  no  one  dare  open  his  mouth,  lest  all  the  moisture 
suddenly  evaporate  aud  respiration   cease. 

Those  who  had  no  cattle  took  different  courses  to 
reach  the  hills  and  mountains  on  the  west  side  of  this 
valley,  hoping  there  to  find  water  and  signal  to  the 
others  if  thej-  were  successful.  All  except  the  two 
men  managed  to  get  across,  and  finding  no  water  the 
packs  were  taken  from  the  oxen  and  they  were  driven 
to  the  lake  which  appeared  on  the  left.  Reaching  the 
lake  they  found  the  water  red  in  color  and  so  strong  of 
alkali  that  no  man  or  beast  could  take  a  single  swal- 
low. They  drove  thr  cattle  back  again  with  sad 
hearts,  and  almost  despondent,  for  in  the  rough,  dry 
rocks  of  the  mountains  there  seemed  no  signs  of  water. 
But  they  were  saved  again.  Those  who  bore  farthest 
to  the  right  in  their  course  to  the  mountains,  steering 
toward  a  pile  of  tremendous  rocks,  found  a  little 
stream  of  good  water  which  flowed  only  a  short  dis- 
tance and  then  sank  into  the  sand.  This  good  news 
spread  rapidly,  and  all  soon  gathered  at  the  little 
streamlet.  It  was  slow  work  getting  water  for  them 
all,  but  by  being  patient  they  were  all  filled  up.  Some 
took  two  canteens  of  water  and  hurried  back  to  Mr. 
Ischam,  whom  they  found  still  alive  but  his  mouth 
and  throat  so  dry  and  parched,  aud  his  strength  so 
small  that  he  .was  unable  to  swallow  a  single  drop, 
and  while  they  waited  he  breathed  his  last.  With 
their  hands  and  feet  they  dug  away  the  .sand  for  a 
shallow  grave,  placed  the  bodj-  in  it,  covered  it  with 
his  blankets,  aud  then  scraped  the  sand  back  over 
again  to  make  a  little  mound  over  their  dead  comrade. 


DEATH  VALLEY,  341 

Perhaps  if  he  could  have  walked  a  mile  farther  he 
might  have  lived,  and  but  for  the  little  trickling  stream 
of  water  from  the  rocks  they  might  all  be  dead,  so 
slight  were  the  circumstances  that  turned  the  scale  to 
balance  toward  life  or  death. 

There  was  so  little  feed  for  oxen  that  they  could 
gain  no  strength,  but  were  much  refreshed  b}'  the 
water  and  could  still  travel.  One  was  killed  here, 
and  the  meat,  poor  as  it  was,  gave  the  men  new 
strength.  They  all  gaessel  it  to  bs  at  least  fifty  miles 
to  the  base  of  the  great  snow  mountain  before  them, 
and  what  there  was  between  no  one  could  tell, 
for  there  were  hills  and  valleys  between.  Leaving 
the  little  spring  their  course  led  first  up  a  small  canon, 
and  when  they  reached  the  summit  of  the  ridge  a 
small  valley  covered  with  sage  brush  was  before  them, 
the  most  fertile  spot  they  had  seen  for  a  long  time. 
The  descent  to  this  valley  was  through  another  caiion 
which  was  filled  with  large  boulders  for  much  of  the 
way,  and  over  these  it  seemed  almost  impossible  to 
get  the  cattle.  They  had  seen  no  water  since  leaving 
the  little  stream,  and  the  plain  they  were  now  ap- 
proaching seemed  thirty  miles  wide,  with  no  signs  of 
streams  or  springs.  However  just  at  the  foot  of  the 
canon  they  tound  a  small  water  hole,  but  the  water 
was  so  salt  that  even  the  oxen  refused  to  drink  it. 

They  decided  to  make  a  jnish  across  the  plain  and 
endeavor  to  reach  the  other  side  in  two  days,  and 
they  knew  there  could  be  no  water  on  its  even  expanse. 
The  plain  seemed  (juite  an  up  grade  from  where  they 
were  to  the  base  of  the  mountain. 

On  the  second  day  they  all  reache:!  the  point  they 
were  aiming  for  except  Rev.  J.  \V.  Brier  and  family, 
and  they  came  in  one  day  behind.  Every  one  looked 
out  for  himself  and  had  no  time  nor  strength  to  spare 
to  help  others.     Here  on  a  small    bench    overlooking 


342  DEATH  VALLKY. 

the  country  to  the  south  and  east  but  still  a  long  dis- 
tance from  the  snow,  they  found  some  holes  of  water, 
and  some  bunch  grass  a  little  farther  up  the  hill. 
Here  was  a  large  trail  coming  from  the  north  and 
leading  from  this  point  westward.  There  were  no 
signs  of  recent  use,  but  there  were  many  indications 
that  it  was  quite  ancient  and  had  been  considerably 
traveled  in  tims  pa  it.  This  was  quite  encouraging  to 
manyofthsm  and  thay  daclarei  they  would  follow 
this  trail  which  would  surely  lead  to  some  place  well 
known,  in  a  better  country.  They  cared  not  whether 
it  led  to  California,  Mexico,  or  Texas,  only  that  they 
might  get  out  of  this  country  which  seemed  accursed. 
Any  place  where  they  could  get  something  to  eat  and 
drink  would  be  better  than  this. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brier  had  some  pretty  hard  struggles 
to  get  along,  and  everyone  of  this  party  has  ever  been 
loud  in  praise  of  the  energy  and  determination  of  the 
brave  little  woman  of  the  Brier  mess.  All  agreed  that 
she  was  by  far  the  best  man  of  the  party.  She  was 
the  one  who  put  the  packs  en  the  oxen  in  the  morn- 
ing. She  it  was  who  took  them  off  at  night,  built  the 
fires,  cooked  the  food,  helped  the  chilt^ren,  and  did  all 
sorts  of  work  when  the  father  of  the  family  was  too 
tired,  which  was  almost  all  of  the  time.  They  all  said 
that  he,  like  other  ministers,  had  fallen  out  with  any 
work  but  that  of  the  tongue,  and  seemed  perfectly 
willing  for  some  one  else  to  do  the  work.  Mrs.  Brier 
had  the  sympathy  of  everyone,  and  many  would  have 
helped  her  if  they  could.  She  waited  on  her  big  hus- 
band with  untiring  zeal,  and  still  had  time  to  care  for 
the  children  with  all  of  a  mother's  love.  It  seemed 
almost  impossible  that  one  little  woman  could  do  so 
much.  It  was  entirely  to  her  untiring  devotion  that 
her  husband  and  children  lived.  Mr.  Brier  had  but 
ittle  sympathy  or  help  from  any  one  but  her.     Some 


DEATH  VAT.LEY.  343 

were  quite  sarcastic  in  their  remarks  about  the  invalid 
preacher  who  never  earned  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
his  brow,  and  by  their  actions  showed  that  they  did 
not  care  very  much  whether  he  ever  got  through  or 
not.  They  thought  he  ought  to  have  asserted  his 
manliness  and  taken  the  burden  on  himself,  and  not 
lean  upon  his  delicate  and  trusting  wife  as  he  seemed 
to  do.  All  are  sure  that  it  is  to  his  faithful  wife  the 
Rev.  J.  W.  Brier  owed  his  succor  from  the  sands  of 
that  desert. 

Looking  back  on  the  scenes  of  that  day,  the  way 
the  selfish  dispositions  of  people  were  made  manifest 
is  almost  incredible.  Every  one  seemed  to  think  only 
of  saving  his  own  life,  and  ever}-  spark  of  human  sym- 
pathy and  kindness  seemed  extinguished.  A  man 
would  drink  the  last  cup  of  water  even  if  his  neighbor 
choked. 

This  camp  was  the  same  one  which  the  Author 
mentions  in  his  narrative,  to  which  Rogers  and  him- 
self crept  so  silently  and  careful!}^  at  night  to  ascertain 
whether  the  occupants  were  friends  or  foes.  They 
were  much  pleased  to  find  it  was  Capt.  Dot}'  of  the 
Jayhawkers  and  his  mess  who  had  remained  behind  to 
dry  the  flesh  of  an  ox  they  had  killed  when  it  could 
travel  no  longer.  The  others  had  gone  on  ahead,  fol- 
lowing the  trail,  leaving  these  to  follow.  They  staid 
here  two  days,  and  it  was  while  waiting  here  that  the 
Rev.  J.  W.  Brier  came  up  as  before  related,  and  they 
all  went  on  together  when  they  moved. 

Nearly  every  man  had  carried  a  gun  in  the  early 
days  of  the  expedition,  hoping  to  kill  game,  and  to  be 
well  armed  in  case  of  attack  by  Indians  or  enemies, 
but  they  began  to  find  that  they  were  useless  incum- 
brances, and  first  one  and  then  another  would  throw 
away  his  fire-arms  as  a  burden  too  great  for  a  weary 
man  to  bear.     There  was  no  game,  and  the  poor  weak 


344  DEATH  VALLEY. 

men  hardly  deemed  their  own  lives  worth  defending 
against  an  enemy  when  a  day  or  two  of  lack  of  water 
would  end  the  matter  of  life  at  any  rate. 

As  they  slept  they  dreamed  the  most  tantalizing 
dreams  of  clear,  rippling  brooks  of  water;  of  wading 
knee  deep  in  rhe  most  beautiful  of  ponds;  of  hoisting 
the  old  moss-covered  bucket  from  some  deep  old  well; 
of  breaking  and  eating  great  white  loaves  of  bread; 
of  surrounding  the  home  table  with  its  load  of  steam- 
ing beans  and  bacon,  fragrant  coffee  and  delicious 
fried  cakes.  With  such  dreams  of  comfort,  they  awoke 
to  realize  more  more  fully  the  terrors  of  their  dry  and 
swollen  throats,  the  discomfort  of  empty  stomachs. 
Water  and  food  were  the  great  riches  of  life  to  them 
then.  Had  piles  of  twenty-dollars  pieces  been  on  the 
one  hand  and  a  bucket  of  cold  water  on  the  other  there 
is  no  doubt  of  the  choice  that  would  have  been  made. 

Seven  or  eight  miles  from  this  place  were  two  bran- 
ches to  the  trail.  One  led  into  the  mountains  toward 
the  snow%  and  the  other  still  bore  southerly.  They 
could  see  that  some  other  party  who  had  no  oxen 
to  drive  had  taken  the  more  northerly  route,  which 
seemed  to  lead  more  directly  in  the  direction  of  the 
mines  of  California.  Those  who  came  later,  with 
animals  thought  it  would  be  folly  to  try  to  cross  the 
deep  snow  they  could  see  on  the  mountains  before  them 
and  concluded  that  it  would  be  safer  to  the  south  of  the 
snow  line,  braving  the  danger  of  scarcity  of  water, 
rather  than  to  perish  in  the  snow.  Capt.  Doty  was 
willing  to  attempt  the  northern  branch  of  the  trail  if 
the  others  so  decided,  but  the  general  feeling  was  in 
favor  of  the  more  plain  and  open  trail  which  led  away 
from  the  snows.  It  is  known  that  this  Northern 
branch  led  over  what  is  known  as  Walker's  Pass,  com- 
ing out  at  the  Kern  River. 

Taking  then  the  southern  branch,  the  party  passed 


DEATH  VALLEY.  343 

through  a  range  of  low  mountains,  and  then  the  coun- 
try before  them  seemed  quite  level  for  a  hundred  miles. 
The}'  expected  they  would  find  much  difficulty  011 
account  of  water,  as  their  experience  had  taught 
them  that  it  was  very  scarce  in  such  locations, 
but  this  trail  when  they  came  to  follow  it  led  them  for 
eight  or  ten  miles  over  a  level  piece  of  high  land  that 
looked  as  if  it  might  have  slid  down  from  the  high 
mountain  at  some  day  long  past,  and  this  easih*  trav- 
eled road  brought  them  at  last  to  the  top  of  a  steep 
hill,  down  which  they  went  and  found  .lear  the  bottom,, 
a  small  weak  stream  of  water,  but  no  grass,  and  but 
little  fuel  of  any  kind.  (This  was  the  same  camp  at 
which  Rogers  and  the  Author  overtook  the  advance 
party. )  Here  they  killed  an  ox,  which  made  a  good 
meal  for  all,  and  not  much  remained  over,  for  many 
had  no  oxen  and  were  getting  out  of  all  sorts  of  prov- 
isions. They  depended  much  on  the  generosit}'  of 
their  fellow  travelers.  Many  of  them  stood  back, 
and  waited  till  those  who  owned  the  food  were  satis- 
fied, and  were  very  grateful  when  they  w^ere  invited 
to  take  even  the  poorest  morsels. 

They  could  count  the  oxen  and  make  a  pretty  close 
guess  of  how  many  days  they  could  live  in  this  way, 
even  with  the  best  probable  fortune  favoring  them, 
and  to  the  best  of  them  there  was  but  little  hope,  and 
to  those  who  were  dependent  it  seemed  as  if  the  fate  of 
Fish  and  Ischam  might  be  theirs  almost  any  day. 
When  the  Author  conversed  with  them  at  this  camp 
he  found  them  the  first  really  heart-broken  men  he  had 
ever  seen  Some  were  men  of  middle  age  who  had  left 
good  farms  that  gave  them  every  need,  and  these  the}- 
had  left  to  seek  a  yellow  phantom,  and  now  there 
,  were  yellow  phantoms  of  a  diiferent  sort  rearing  their 
dreadful  forms  all  about  them.  They  called  them- 
selves foolish  gold  hunters  to  forsake  a   land  of  plenty 


346  DEATH  VALLEY. 

for  a  chance  to  leave  their  bones  in  a  hot  desert. 
More  eyes  than  one  filled  with  tears,  and  hopes  in 
more  than  one  breast  vanished  to  almost  nothing. 
More  than  one  would  gladly  have  placed  himself  back 
where  he  could  have  been  assured  of  the  poorest  fare 
he  ever  saw  upon  his  farm,  for  bread  and  water  would 
have  been  an  assurance  of  life,  of  which  there  seemed 
to  be  really  but  little  expectation  here. 

When  they  left  this  camp  in  the  canon  the  trail  was 
between  two  high  rocks,  rising  like  walls  on  each  side. 
In  one  place  they  were  so  near  together  that  an  ox  could 
hardly  squeeze  through.  In  a  very  short  time  they 
came  to  a  bunch  of  willows  growing  out  in  the  open 
ground.  The  little  bunch  or  grove  was  forty  or  fifty 
feet  in  diameter,  and  in  the  center  was  a  spring  of 
water.  The  center  of  the  clump  had  been  cleared  out, 
making  a  sort  of  corral  of  bushes,  enclosing  the  spring. 
On  the  outside  there  was  quite  a  little  growth  of  grass, 
which  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  their  poor  beasts. 

Away  in  the  distance,  rising  up  a  little  against  the 
western  sky  they  could  see  mountains  with  snow  on 
them,  and  it  seemed  as  if  it  were  a  journey  of  five  or 
six  days  to  reach  them,  but  the  good  water  and  the 
grass  bolstered  up  their  spirits  wonderfully  for  there 
was  present  relief  and  rather  better  prospects  ahead. 
They  were  pretty  sure  that  the  wide  plain  held  no 
water.  Everything  that  would  hold  the  precious 
drink  was  filled,  and  the  ))est  preparations  made  for 
what  they  believed  was  to  be  the  hnal  struggle  for 
life.  They  rested  one  day  and  prepared  for  the  very 
worst  that  might  before  them.  Early  in  the  morning 
when  they  could  see  plainest;  they  looked  across  the  ex- 
panse before  them  and  really  it  did  not  seem  quite  so 
barren,  hot  and  desolate  as  the  region  they  had  passed, 
and  they  talked  and  hoped  that  this  would  be  the  last 
desert  they  must  cross  and  that  Los    Angeles  lay  just 


DEATH  VALLEY.  347 

beyond  the  sunny  ridge  they  could  dimly  see  ahead. 
There  were  some  tears  that  more  than  one  would  not 
live  to  answer  roll  call  on  the  other  side,  but  it  was 
the  last  hope,  and  worth  an  earnest,  active  trial. 

Early  in  the  morning,  much  refreshed,  they  started 
on  again  with  rather  sober  faces.  That  night  one  man 
insisted  on  sleeping  with  his  clothes  and  boots  all  on, 
for  he  said  if  he  died  he  wanted  to  die  in  full  dress. 
Another  day  and  some  thought  they  could  see  trees  on 
the  mountains  ahead  of  them,  and  this  renewed  their 
courage  greatly.  In  the  middle  of  the  day  they  suf- 
fered greatly  with  the  heat  and  the  dry  air  seemed  to 
drink  up  every  bit  of  moisture  from  everybody.  When 
they  killed  an  ox  the}  saved  the  blood  and  ate  it. 
The  intestines,  cleaned  with  the  fingers,  made  food 
when  roasted  on  the  fire,  ?.nd  pieces  of  hide,  singed 
and  roasted,  helped  to  sustain  life.  The  water  was 
nearly  all  gone.  Only  power  of  will  and  strength 
of  body  had  kept  any,  Capt.  Asa  Haines  sat  down 
one  day  and  said  he  could  go  no  farther,  but  his  com- 
rade, Iv.  D.  Stephens,  who  had  kept  a  little  rice,  a  lit- 
tle tea,  and  a  dry  crust  of  bread  for  time  of  need,  took 
a  little  water  in  a  cup  and  made  some  soup  which  he 
forced  his  friend  to  eat  and  soon  he  revived  and  was 
able  to  move  on  again.  That  was  true  friendship. 
.  The  next  night  Stevens  himself  auoke  and  seemed 
perishing  with  thirst.  He  crawled  over  to  Doty's  bed 
and  begged  for  just  one  sup  of  water,  Doty  in  the 
goodness  of  his  heart,  took  his  canteen  from  under  his 
head  divided  the  last  few  drops  with  him  and  the  death 
which  threatened  him  was  held  off.  Capt.  Doty  found 
it  necessary  to  talk  very  seriously  to  those  who 
mourned  and  talked  of  failing  He  never  gave  up  in 
the  least.  He  encouraged  all  to  make  every  step  they 
could  and  know  no  such  word  as  fail.  When  thej^ 
said  that  death  would  be  easier  than  life,  he  told  them 


348  DEATH  VALLEY. 

so,  but  that  life  was  possible  if  they  only  willed  it, 
and  a  better  life  than  had  been  theirs.  And  so  he 
kept  them  encouraged  and  kept  them  putting  one  foot 
before  the  other,  pointing  out  the  ever  lessening  dis- 
tance to  the  mountain  before  them.  He  appealed  to 
their  manhood.  "Be  men,"  said  he,  "Be  brave  and 
courageous,  and  you  have  more  strength  than  5-0U 
believe. ' '  Thus  by  example  and  words  he  proved  to 
be  a  true  captain  to  his  little  band. 

Their  water  was  all  gone,  every  drop,  and  still  the 
foot-hills  seemed  far  away.  The  supply  of  meat  ran 
out.  Tom  Shannon  killed  an  ox,  and  when  those  who 
had  cattle  had  taken  some,  the  others  who  had  none 
were  told  to  divide  the  rest.  There  was  no  water  to 
dress  or  cook  it,  but  it  helped  to  sustain  life.  Entrails, 
bones,  sinews,  bits  of  hide  and  everything  was  used. 
One  man  was  seen  with  an  ox  horn,  burning  the  end 
in  the  lire  and  gnawing  away^  at  the  softened  portion. 
It  was  something  terrible  to  see  human  beings  eating 
what  the  dogs  would  cast  aside.  One  man  saw  some 
moist  looking  earth  on  the  shady  side  of  a  bunch  of 
brush  and  he  dug  down  and  got  a  handful  of  it,  from~ 
which  he  tried  to  suck  the  moisture.  He  failed,  and 
the  bad  taste  of  the  earth  made  him  suffer  more  than 
before.  Many  bones  of  horses  and  cattle  now  appeared 
along  the  trail.  They  seemed  to  have  been  there  a 
long  time,  and  some  were  partly  decayed.  On  this 
waterless  stretch  one  of  their  number,  a  Frenchman, 
wandered  off,  searching  for  water  in  little  hollows  or 
puddles,  and  never  came  back  to  camp.  He  was  sup- 
posed to  be  dead,  but  ten  years  afterward  some  sur- 
veyors found  him  in  a  Digger  Indian  camp. 

An  idea  how  selfish  men  will  get  under  such  cir- 
cumstances may  be  gained  by  relating  that  on  one  oc- 
casion when  an  ox  was  killed  the  liver  was  carried  to 
the  brave  little  Mrs.  Brier    for   herself  and    children, 


DEATH  VALLEY.  349 

and  she  laid  it  aside  for  a  few  moments  till  she  could 
attend  to  some  oiher  duties  before  cooking  it.  Dark- 
ness coming  on  meanwhile,  some  unprincipled,  ungal- 
lant  thief  stole  it,  and  only  bits  of  offal  and  almost  un- 
eatable pieces  were  left  to  sustain  their  lives.  That  any 
one  could  steal  the  last  morsel  from  a  woman  and  her 
children  surpasses  belief,  but  yet  it  was  plain  that 
there  was  at  least  one  man  in  the  party  who  could  da 
it.  No  one  can  fully  understand  or  describe  such 
scenes  as  this  unless  he  has  looked  into  just  such 
hungry  looking,  haggard  eyes  and  faces,  a  mixture  of 
determination  and  despair,  the  human  expression  al- 
most vanishing,  and  the  face  of  a  starving  wolf  or 
jackal  taking  its  place.  There  are  no  words  to  paint 
such  a  state  of  things  to  him  who  has  never  seen  and 
known. 

But  there  were  true  men,  true,  charitable  hearts  in 
that  little  band.  Though  death  stared  them  in  the 
face  they  never  forgot  their  fellow  men.  As  thej^ 
slowly  crawled  along  many  would  wander  here  and 
there  beside  the  trail  and  fall  behind,  especially  the 
weaker  ones,  and  many  were  the  predictions  that 
such  and  such  a  one  w^ould  never  come  up  again,  or 
reach  the  camp.  Then  it  was  that  these  noble  souls, 
tired  almost  beyond  recovery  themselves,  would  take 
water  and  go  back  to  seek  the  wandering  ones  and 
give  them  drink  and  help  them  on.  More  than  one 
would  thus  have  perished  in  the  sands  but  for  the  little 
canteen  of  water  carried  back  by  some  friend.  Only  a 
swallow  or  two  would  often  revive  their  failing 
strength  and  courage,  and  with  slow  step  they  would 
move  on  again.  How  much  good  a  crust  of  bread 
would  have  done  such  a  poor  creature.  Bread  there 
was  none  —  nothing  but  the  flesh  of  their  poor  oxen, 
wasted  and  consumed  by  dstys  of  travel  and  lack  of 
food  till  it  had  no  goodness  in  it.    Even  the  poor  oxen,. 


350  DEATH  VALI^EY. 

every  uight  seemed  to  be  the  end  of  their  walking; 
every  morning  it  was  feared  that  that  wonld  be  the 
last  time  they  would  be  able  to  rise  upon  their  feet. 

Already  five  or  six  days  had  passed  since  they  left 
the  camp  at  the  willows  where  they  had  their  last  sup- 
ply of  water,  and  still  they  were  on  the  desert.  The 
journey  was  longer  than  they  had  expected,  partly 
owing  to  the  slow  progress  they  had  made  for  there 
were  frequent  stops  to  rest  or  they  could  not  move  at 
all.  The  mountains  seemed  nearer  every  day,  and 
the  trees  were  outlined  more  plainly  each  morning  as 
they  started  out.  Capt.  Doty  used  every  circumstance 
to  encourage  them.  He  would  remark  upon  the  fav- 
orable signs  of  water  in  the  hills  before  them,  and  the 
hope  that  there  might  be  some  game  to  provide  better 
meat  than  that  of  starving  oxen.  Thus  he  renewed 
their  hope  and  kept  alive  their  courage.  He  must 
have  had  a  great  deal  of  fortitude  to  hide  his  own  sad 
feelings,  for  they  must  as  surely  have  come  to  him  as 
to  any  one,  and  to  keep  up  alwaj^s  an  air  of  hope, 
courage,  and  determination  to  succeed.  If  he  had 
been  a  man  of  less  spirit  and  good  judgment  it  is  ver}^ 
probable  that  many  more  would  have  been  left  by  the 
wayside  to  die. 

About  this  point  the  trail  which  had  been  growing 
fainter  and  fainter,  seemed  to  vanish  entirel3\  One 
could  move  in  almost  any  direction  to  right  or  left  as 
he  chose,  and  because  of  this,  previous  travel  had 
doubtless  scattered  and  thus  left  no  trail.  It  was 
thought  best  that  this  company  should  spread  out  and 
approach  the  mountains  in  as  broad  a  front  as  possible 
so  as  to  multiply  the  chances  of  finding  water,  and  so 
they  started  out  in  pairs,  some  to  the  right  and  some 
(-0  the  left,  each  selecting  the  point  where  water  seemed 
most  probable. 

Tom  Shannon  and  a  companion  were  one  of  these 


DEATH  VALLEY.  351 

pairs.  Tom  was  one  of  the  few  who  still  stuck  to  his 
gun,  for  he  felt  that  it  might  save  his  life  sometime. 
He  and  his  companion  separated  about  a  mile,  each 
looking  at  all  points  that  showed  the  least  sign  of 
water.  Suddenly  a  jack  rabbit  started  from  a  bush, 
the  first  game  Shannon  had  seen  for  more  than  a 
month.  He  pulled  the  rifle  on  him  as  he  was  making 
some  big  bound  and  had  the  good  luck  to  nearly  split 
his  head  open.  Rushing  up  to  his  game  he  put  his 
mouth  to  the  wound  and  sucked  the  warm  blood  as  it 
flowed,  for  it  was  the  first  liquid  he  had  seen;  but  in- 
stead of  allaying  his  fearful  thirst  it  seemed  to  make  it 
worse  and  he  seemed  delirious.  A  little  way  up  the 
gulch  he  saw  a  rock  and  a  green  bush  and  steered  for 
it,  but  found  no  water.  He  sat  down  with  his  back 
to  the  rock,  his  rifle  leaning  up  near  by,  pulled  his 
old  worn  hat  over  his  eyes,  and  sufi'ered  an  agony  of 
sickness.  He  realized  that  life  was  leaving  his  body, 
and  there  he  sat  with  no  power  to  move  and  no  desire 
to  make  an  effort.  It  seemed  as  if  he  could  see  plain 
before  him  all  the  trail  from  where  he  sat,  back  over 
all  the  deserts,  mountains  and  rivers  to  the  old  place 
in  Illinois.  He  entirely  forgot  the  present,  and  seemed 
unconscious  of  everything  but  the  pictures  of  the  past. 
The  mind  seemed  growing  freer  from  its  attachment 
to  the  body  and  at  liberty  to  take  in  his  whole  past  life, 
and  bright  scenes  that  had  gone  before.  How  long 
he  sat  thus  he  knows  not.  His  companion  was  for- 
tunate in  finding  water,  and  when  he  had  refreshed 
himself  he  set  out  to  find  poor  Tom  of  whom  he  could 
see  nothing.  Going  toward  where  he  heard  the  shot 
he  followed  on  till  he  saw  him  at  the  rock,  almost 
doubled  up,  with  his  face  concealed  by  his  hat.  "()! 
Tom!"  said  he,  but  there  came  no  answering  motion, 
and  going  nearer  he  called  again  and  still  no  answer 
and  no  sign.      Poor  Tom  had  surely  passed-  on  to  the 


352  DEATH  VALLEY. 

better  land,  thought  he,  and  salvation  was  so  near. 
He  approached  and  lifted  the  hat  rim.  There  was  a 
movement  of  the  eyes,  a  quivering  of  the  muscles  of 
the  face,  and  a  sort  of  semi-unconscious  stare  such  as 
precedes  approaching  dissolution. 

Quickly  holding  back  his  head  he  poured  water  be- 
tween his  lips  from  his  canteen  and  it  was  swallowed. 
Then  a  little  more,  and  then  some  more,  and  life 
seemed  coming  back  cgain  into  a  troublesome  world, 
bringing  pain  with  it,  and  the  consciousness  of  a  suf- 
fering body.  After  a  time  he  felt  better  and  was 
helped  to  his  feet,  and  together  they  went  to  the  water 
hole  where  they  made  a  fire  and  cooked  the  rabbit 
which  was  the  first  savory  meat  they  had  tasted  for  a 
long  lime.  Tom  felt  better  and  told  his  companion 
how  he  felt  after  tasting  the  warm  rabbit's  blood,  and 
how  he  had  nearly  gone  off  into  the  sleep  of  death. 

"If  you  had  been  a  little  longer  finding  me,"  said 
Tom,  '  'I  should  soon  have  been  out  of  this  sad  world. ' ' 
They  fired  a  signal  gun,  looked  down  at  the  bones  of 
the  rabbit,  drank  more  water,  and  gradually  felt  new 
life  coining  to  theai.  Tae  mDuntiins  seeiisd  more 
fertile,  and  there  was  brush  and  grass  near  by,  tim- 
ber farther  up,  and  still  higher  a  cap  of  snow  extend- 
ing far  along  the  range,  both  noith  and  south.  To- 
wards night  on  this  eventful  day  the  scattered  travelers 
began  to  come  slowly  into  camp  attracted  by  the  guns 
and  the  smoke  of  the  fire  made  by  those  who  first 
found  the  water.  Some  were  nearly  as  far  gone  as 
Tom  Shannon  was,  and  great  caution  had  to  used  in 
giving  them  water  on  their  empty  stomach.  One  man 
named  Robinson  became  so  weak  before  he  got  near 
■camp  that  his  companions  placed  him  on  the  back  of 
one  of  the  animals  and  a  man  walked  on  either  side  to 
catch  him  if  he  fell  off.  When  they  got  within  a  mile 
of  the  water  he  insisted  that  he  was  strong  enough  to 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY.  353 

take  care  of  himself  and  not  be  watched  every  minute, 
and  they  relaxed  their  vigilance.  He  soon  fell  off, 
and  when  they  went  to  him  he  refused  to  be  put  back 
on  the  animal  again  or  to  walk  any  farther.  "Just 
spread  my  blankets  down,"  said  he,  "and  I  will  lie 
down  and  rest  a  little  and  after  a  while  I  will  come 
along  into  camp.  "  So  they  left  him  and  pushed  on  to 
water,  and  when  they  were  a  little  refreshed  went 
back  to  him  with  water,  and  to  help  him  to  come  in, 
but  when  they  came  to  him  they  found  him  dead. 
He  did  not  seem  to  have  moved  after  he  had  lain  down. 
He  did  not  seem  so  bad  off  as  Shannon  was  when  he 
la}'  down,  and  probably  a  few  swallows  of  water  at 
that  time  would  have  saved  his  life.  It  seemed  sad 
indeed,  after  so  much  suffering  and  striving  to  get 
along,  that  he  should  die  within  a  mile  of  water  that 
would  have  saved  his  life.  If  he  had  posessed  a  little 
more  strength  so  that  the  spark  of  life  could  have  re- 
mained a  little  longer,  the  cooling  moisture  troni  the 
canteen  would  have  revived  it,  and  a  little  rest  would 
have  placed  him  on  his  feet  again.  The\'  had  no  tools 
to  dig  a  grave,  not  even  a  knife  for  they  had  left  every 
weight  in  camp,  so  the}^  covered  him  closely  in  his 
blankets  and  sadly  returned  to  their  friends.  They 
had  all  along  hoped  that  the  Frenchman  who  had  wan- 
dered away  would  come  in,  but  he  never  came.  There 
were  several  water  holes  scattered  around  at  this  point 
which  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  sunken  place  in  the  hills, 
and  quite  large  brush  could  be  obtained  for  fire,  and 
gi  ass  for  the  oxen  Those  who  had  been  good  hunters 
and  had  thrown  away  their  rifles  as  useless  burdens, 
now  began  to  look  at  hills  before  them  and  think  that 
game  might  be  found  in  them,  as  well  as  water. 
There  were  only  one  or  two  guns  in  the  whole  party, 
They  thought  that  this  must  surely  be  the  edge  of  the 
great   desert  they    had    crossed,   and  only    the   snow 


354  DEATH  VALI.EY. 

range  before  them  could  be  the  obstacle  that  separated 
them  from  Eos  Angeles. 

One  day  from  here  would  bring  them  to  the  edge  of 
the  snow,  and  they  debated  as  to  the  best  course  to 
pursue.  Some  of  them  were  fearful  they  could  not 
cross  the  snow  with  the  oxen,  for  it  seemed  to  be  quite 
deep.  The  best  place  to  cross  seemed  directly  west 
of  them.  South  was  a  higher  peak,  and  to  the  north 
it  was  surely  impassible.  There  seemed  to  be  a  faint 
sign  of  a  trail  from  this  point  towards  the  lowest  point 
in  the  snow  mountains.  There  were  some  bones  of 
cattle  around  the  springs  which  they  thought  was  an 
indication  that  in  years  gone  by  there  had  been  some 
traveling  on  this  trail.  There  surely  would  be  water 
in  the  snow  which  could  be  got  by  melting  it,  and  on 
the  whole  it  seemed  best  to  make  the  attempt  to  cross 
at  the  lowest  place.  There  were  no  signs  of  travel 
except  the  trail  which  had  not  been  used  in  years,  nor 
signs  of  civilization  except  the  bones. 

Starting  from  the  water  holes  which  showed  no  signs- 
of  having  been  used  for  several  years,  their  next  camp 
was,  as  they  had  calculated,  on  the  edge  of  the  snow 
where  they  found  plenty  of  dry  juniper  trees  for  fire, 
and  of  course  plenty  of  water.  Here  they  killed  an  ox 
and  fed  the  hungry  so  that  they  were  pretty  well  re- 
freshed. This  was  an  elevated  place  and  the}'  could 
look  back  over  the  trail  across  the  desert  for,  what 
seemed  to  them,  a  hundred  miles,  and  the  great  dan- 
gers of  their  journey  were  discussed.  Said  one  of 
them  to  Tom  Shannon: —  "Tom,  you  killed  the  first 
game  we  have  come  across  in  two  months.  Even  the 
buzzards  and  coyotes  knew  better  than  to  go  out  into 
the  country  where  the  cursed  Mormon  saint  sent  us 
numbskulls.  "  Another  said  that  while  the}-  had  been 
seeking  a  heaven  on  earth  they  had  passed  through 
puigatory,  or  perhaps  a  worse  place  still  nearer  the 


DEATH  VALLEY,  355 

one  from  which  sulphurous  fumes  arise,  and  now  they 
hoped  that  there  might  be  a  somewhat  more  heavenly 
place  beyond  the  snow.  One  who  had  been  silent 
seemed  awakened  by  inspiration  and  spoke  in  im- 
promptu lines  somevv^hat  as  follows,  as  he  pointed  out 
to  the  dim  distance: — 

"Yonder  in  mountains'  gray  beauty, 
Wealth  and  fame  decay. 

Yonder,  the  sands  of  the  desert. 

Yonder,  the  salt  of  the  sea, 

Yonder,  a  fiery  furnace, 

Yonder,  the  bones  of  our  friends. 

Yonder  the  old  and  the  young 

Lie  scattered  along  the  way." 
Some  even  confessed  the  desperate  thoughts  that 
had  come  to  their  minds  when  they  were  choking  and 
starving.  We  have  mentioned  four  of  the  train  who 
had  perished  beside  the  trail  and  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  one  party  of  eleven  starte  \  out  on  foot  be- 
fore the  wagons  were  abandoned  by  the  rest  of  the  party. 
Nothing  was  heard  ofllhese  for  seven  years,  but  long 
afterward  nine  skeletons  were  found  at  the  re  nains  of 
a  camp,  and  the  other  two  were  afterward  seen  in  the 
gold  fields.  W^feelispoken  to  about  this  party,  they 
burst  into  tears  and  could  not  talk  of  it.  So  it  is  known 
that  at  least  thirteen  men  perished  in  the  country 
which  has  well  been  named  Death  \^alley. 

People  who  have  always  been  well  fed,  and  have 
never  suffered  from  thirst  till  every  drop  of  moisture 
seemed  gone  from  the  body,  so  they  dare  not  open 
their  mouth  lest  they  dry  up  and  cease  to  breathe,  can 
never  understand,  nor  is  there  language  to  convey  the 
horrors  of  such  a  situation.  The  story  of  these  parties 
may  seem  like  fairy  fables,  but  to  those  who  exper- 
ienced it  all,  the  strongest  statements  come  far  short 
of  the  reality.  No  one  could    believe  how    some    men, 


356  DEATH  VALLEY 

when  they  are  starving  take  on  the  wild  aspect  of  sav- 
age beasts,  and  that  one  could  never  feel  safe  in  their 
presence.  Some  proved  true  and  kind  and  charitable 
even  with  death  staring  them  in  the  face,  and  never 
forgot  their  fellow  men.  Some  that  seemed  weakest 
proved  strongest  in  the  final  struggle  for  existance. 

Early  next  morning  before  the  sun  rose  they  started 
to  cross  the  snow,  leaving  their  comrade  Robinson  be- 
hind, rolled  up  in  his  blankets,  taking  his  everlasting 
sleep  so  far  as  the  troubles  of  this  world  are  concerned. 
What  the  day  would  bring  forth  very  few  could  have 
any  idea.  Go  on  they  must,  and  this  direction  seemed 
most  promising.  If  the  snow  should  prove  hard 
enough  to  hold  up  the  oxen  they  could  probably  cross 
t)efore  night,  but  if  compelled  to  camp  in  the  suow  it 
was  a  doubtful  case  for  them. 

The  snow  held  them  as  they  advanced  on  it,  but 
grew  a  little  softer  as  the  sun  got  higher.  The  tracks 
of  both  men  and  animals  were  stained  with  blood  from 
their  worn-out  feet.  When  they  turned  the  summit 
they  found  more  timber  and  the  ravine  they  followed 
was  so  shaded  that  the  force  of  the  sun  was  broken, 
and  chey  really  did  not  suffer  very  much  from  slump- 
ing through  the  snow,  and  so  got  safely  over.  Not 
far  below  the  snow  they  found  a  running  brook  of 
clear,  sweet  water,  with  willows  along  the  banks  and 
trees  on  the  hills,  the  first  really  good  water  for  a 
month  or  two.  This  is  the  same  camp  where  Rogers 
and  his  companion  ate  their  meal  of  quail,  hawk  and 
crow  a  few  days  before,  and  these  travelers  knew  by 
the  remains  of  the  little  camp  fire  that  they  were  fol- 
lowing on  the  trail  of  the  tvvo  men  who  had  gone  be- 
fore. 

This  place  was  so  great  an  improvement  on  the 
camps  of  the  past  that  all  hands  began  to  talk  and  act 
more  rational  as  hope  dawned  more  brightly  on  them. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  357 

Those  who  had  guns  branched  off  to  search  for  game, 
iDut  found  they  were  too  weak  for  that  kind  of  work, 
and  had  to  sit  down  very  often  to  rest.  When  they 
tried  to  run  the}'  stumbled  down  and  made  very  poor 
progress. 

Capt.  Doty,  Tom  Shannon  and  Bill  Rude  sat  down 
to  rest  on  a  bold  point  above  the  creek.  While  there 
three  wild  horses  came  along  within  eas}'  range,  and 
thinking  they  would  form  ))etter  meat  than  the  oxen 
each  man  picked  his  animal  and  all  fired  simultane- 
ously, bringing  them  all  to  the  ground.  This  seemed 
a  piece  of  glorious  luck,  and  all  rushed  in  like  wolves 
after  a  wounded  animal.  It  was  not  very  long  before 
each  had  a  chunk  of  meat  in  his  hand,  and  many  a  one 
•did  not  stop  from  eating  because  it  was  not  cooked. 
-Such  declared  the}-  never  ate  anything  so  delicious  in 
all  their  lives  before,  and  wondered  why  horses  were 
not  used  as  food  instead  of  hogs  and  cattle.  As  they 
satisfied  their  ravenous  apetites  they  ate  more  like 
beasts  than  like  men,  so  nearly  were  they  starved,  and 
so  nearly  had  their  starving  condition  made  them  fall 
from  their  lofty  estate. 

As  they  passed  on  down  this  caiion  they  found  it 
very  brushy  and  on  the  dry  leaves  under  the  wide- 
spreading  trees  th«.y  saw  signs  of  bear  and  perhaps 
other  animals.  There  were  .some  swampy  places 
where  it  was  grassy,  and  into  these  the  cattle  rushed 
with  great  eagerness  for  the  food  they  had  so  long  suf- 
fered for.  Some  of  Mr.  Brier's  cattle  went  in,  and 
in  tramping  around  for  'bod  sank  deep  into  the  mud 
and  could  not  be  coaxed  out  again.  Mrs.  Brier  threw 
clubs  at  them  but  they  did  not  seem  inclined  to  pay 
much  attention  to  her  attacks  so  she  was  forced  to  go 
in  after  them  herself,  and  in  so  doing  also  sank  into 
the  mud  and  could  not  get  out  without  assistance. 
All  this  time  her  reverend  husband  sat  outside  on  the 


358  DEATH  VALI.EY. 

kard  ground  at  a  safe  distance,  but  did  not  ofier  any 
help.  Probably  if  an  extended  and  learned  lecture  on 
the  effects  of  gravitation  would  have  done  any  good 
he  would  have  been  ready  with  prompt  and  extended 
service  to  one  whom  he  had  promised  to  love  and  cher- 
ish. 

About  this  time  L.  D.  Stevens  came  along  and  see- 
ing the  condition  of  the  unfortunate  woman,  at  once 
went  to  her  assistance  and  helped  her  to  dry  land. 
Brier  himself  never  made  a  move  nor  said  a  word. 
Stevens  looked  terriblj'  cross  at  him  and  remarked  to 
his  companions  that  if  the  preacher  himself  had  been 
the  one  stuck  in  the  mud  he  would  have  been  quite 
inclined  to  leave  him  there  for  all  of  helping  him. 

The  canon  grew  narrow  as  they  descended,  and  the 
brush  thicker,  so  that  to  follow  the  bed  of  the  stream 
was  the  only  way  to  get  along.  The  cattle  seemed  to 
scent  a  bear  and  stampeded  in  terror  through  the  brush 
in  various  directions,  all  except  one  which  was  being 
led  by  a  rope.  They  tried  to  follow  the  animals  in  a 
desperate  effort  to  recover  them  and  a  few  blankets 
they  had  upon  their  backs,  but  could  only  make  slow 
progress.  Tom  Shannon  and  two  others  found  a  fresh 
bear  track  and  determined  to  follow  it  awhile  in  the 
hope  of  having  revenge  on  the  cause  of  their  mishap 
with  the  oxen.  They  took  their  blankets  and  kept 
the  trail  till  night  when  they  camped,  but  were  at  so 
great  an  elevation  that  a  snowstorm  came  with  six  in- 
ches of  snow  so  they  could  no  longer  follow  the  track. 

They  were  very  hungry  and  on  the  way  back  came 
across  some  wild  cherries  which  had  dried  perfectly 
dry  as  they  hung  on  the  bushes.  These  they  picked 
and  ate,  cracking  the  seeds  with  their  teeth,  and  de- 
claring them  to  be  the  best  of  fruit.  Good  appetites 
made  almost  anything  taste  good  then.  They  got 
back  to  the  creek  next  day  pretty  nearly  starved,  and 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  359 

with  neither  a  bear  nor  runaway  oxen  to  reward  them 
for  their  two  da^-s'  hard  work. 

Wood  and  water  were  plenty,  but  grass  was  scarce 
and  their  ox  had  to  live  on  brush  and  leaves,  but  this 
was  infinitely  better  than  the  stunted  and  bitter  shrubs 
of  the  desert.  They  came  out  of  the  brush  at  last  into 
the  open  bottom  land  where  the  brook  sank  out  of 
sight  in  the  sand,  and  sage  brush  appeared  all  about. 
From  this  on,  over  the  elevated  point  which  projected 
out  nearly  across  the  valley,  their  experience  and 
emotions  in  coming  in  sight  of  vast  herds  of  cattle 
feeding  on  rolling  grassy  hills,  or  reclining  under 
great  oak  trees  scattered  over  the  more  level  lands, 
were  much  the  same  as  came  to  the  Author  and  his 
party  when  the  same  scene  was  suddenh'  opened  to 
them.  Signs  of  civilization  and  of  plenty  so  suddenh' 
appearing  after  so  many  weeks  of  suffering  and  deso- 
lation was  almost  enough  to  turn  their  heads,  and 
more  than  one  of  the  stout-hearted  pioneers  shed  tears 
of  joy.  Only  a  few  days  before  and  they  could  scarcely 
have  believed  it  possible  to  find  a  spot  so  lovely. 

But  to  hungry,  more  than  half  starved  men,  points 
of  artistic  beauty  and  sober  reflections  over  the  terrors 
of  the  past  found  little  place,  and  their  first  thought 
was  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  hunger  wTiich  were  as- 
suredly none  the  less  when  they  beheld  the  numerous 
fat  cattle  all  around  them.  There  was  no  one  to  ask 
or  to  buy  from  and  to  kill  and  eat  without  permission 
might  be  wrong  and  might  get  them  into  difficulty, 
but  one  might  as  well  ask  a  starving  wolf  to  get  per- 
mission to  slay  and  eat  when  a  fat  lamb  came  across 
his  path  as  to  expect  these  men  to  take  very  much 
time  to  hunt  up  owners.  When  life  or  death  are  the 
questions  that  present  themselves  men  are  not  so  apt 
to  discuss  the  right  or  w^ong  of  any  matter. 

Tom  Shannon  and  a  couple  of  others  did  not  wait 


36o  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

long  at  any  rate,  but  crawled  down  the  creek  bed  till 
they  were  opposite  a  few  fine  animals  and  then  crept 
up  the  bank  very  near  to  them.  Two  or  three  shots 
rang  out  and  as  many  fine  cattle  were  brought  down. 
The  live  cattle  ran  away  and  the  hungry  men  soon 
had  the  field  to  themselves.  Much  quicker  than  can 
be  told  the  men  had  fat  pieces  of  meat  in  their  hands 
which  they  devoured  without  cooking.  The  men 
acted  like  crazy  creatures  at  a  barbacue — each  one  cut 
for  himself  with  very  little  respect  for  anyone.  The 
boldest  got  in  first  and  the  more  retiring  came  in  later, 
but  all  had  enough  and  gradually  resumed  more  hu- 
man actions  and  appearance. 

They  had  hardly  finished  their  bloody  feast  when 
they  saw  a  small  squad  of  men  on  horseback  advanc- 
ing toward  them,  and  as  they  came  near  it  was  quite 
plain  that  they  were  all  armed  in  some  way.  All  had 
lassoes  at  their  saddles,  some  had  old-fashioned  blun- 
derbusses, and  nearly  every  one  had  a  maclieta  or  long 
bladed  Spanish  knife.  As  the  horsemen  drew  near 
they  formed  into  something  like  military  order  and 
advanced  slowly  and  carefully.  It  was  pretty  evident 
they  thought  they  were  about  to  encounter  a  band  of 
thieving  Indians,  but  as  they  came  closer  they  recog- 
nized the  strangers  as  Americans  and  passed  the  com- 
pliments with  them  in  a  rather  friendly  manner. 

Some  of  the  Jayhawkers  had  been  in  the  Mexican 
"War  and  understood  a  few  words  of  Spanish,  and  by 
a  liberal  use  of  signs  were  able  to  communicate  with 
the  armed  party  and  tell  them  who  they  were,  where 
they  were  going,  and  the  unfortunate  condition  in 
which  they  found  themselves.  The  men  did  not  seem 
angry  at  losing  so  few  of  their  cattle,  and  doubtless, 
considered  themselves  fortunate  in  not  suffering  to  the 
extent  of  some  hundreds  as  they  did  sometimes  by  In- 
dian raids,  and  invited  the  whole  party  down   to   the- 


DEATH  VATXEY.  361 

ranch  house  of  the  San  Erancisquito  Rancho  of  which 
this  was  a  part.  Arrived  at  the  house  the  ranch  men 
brought  in  a  good  fat  steer  which  they  killed  and  told 
the  poor  Americans  to  help  themselves  and  be  wel- 
come. This  was  on  the  fourth  da}^  of  February,  1850. 
The  whole  party  remained  here  to  rest  themselves 
and  their  oxen  for  several  days,  and  were  royally  en- 
tertained by  the  people  at  the  ranch.  They  talked 
over  the  plans  for  the  future,  and  considered  the  best 
course  to  pursue.  They  thought  it  would  be  wise  to 
keep  their  oxen  for  these  would  now  improve  in  flesh, 
and  as  they  had  no  money  with  which  to  buy  food 
they  might  still  rely  on  them  in  further  travels.  The 
best  oxen  had  survived,  for  the  failing  ones  were  se- 
lected to  be  killed  when  they  were  forced  to  have  food. 
The  weaker  of  their  comrades  had  perished  in  the  des- 
ert, and  the  remainder  of  the  train  consisted  of  the 
strongest  men  and  the  strongest  oxen,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  no  question  but  that  they  could  all  live 
in  this  country  where  grass  and  water  were  both  abun- 
dant, and  every  sign  of  more  or  less  wild  game. 

Those  of  the  company  who  had  no  cattle  made  their 
way  directly  to  Los  Angeles,  and  from  thence  to  the 
coast  from  which  most  of  them  reached  San  Erancisco 
by  sailing  vessel.  Those  who  had  no  money  were 
given  a  passage  on  credit,  and  it  is  believed  that  all 
such  debts  were  afterwards  honestly  paid. 

Capt.  Doty  made  a  proposition  to  buy  out  the  oxen 
of  some  who  had  only  one  or  two,  giving  his  note  for 
them  payable  in  San  Erancisco  or  anywhere  up  north 
they  might  chance  to  meet,  and  many  of  them  accepted 
and  went  to  the  coast.  In  this  way  Doty  secured 
oxen  enough  to  supply  one  for  each  of  those  who  de- 
cided to  go  with  him.  They  decided  to  use  them  for 
pack  animals  to  carry  their  blankets,  and  to  proceed 
slowly  toward  the  mines,  killing  game,  if  possible,  and 


362  DEATH  VAU.EY. 

permitting  their  animals  to  graze  and  improve  in  con- 
dition as  they  moved. 

There  must  have  been  from  twentj^-five  to  forty 
people  gathered  at  the  ranch.  Among  them  was  the 
Rev.  J.  W.  Brier  who  seemed  to  want  to  impress  it  on 
the  new  California  friends  that  he  was  the  man  of  all 
others  to  be  honored.  The  ranchman  was  a  good 
Catholic,  and  Brier  tried  to  make  him  understand  that 
he,  also,  was  very  devout.  He  said,  and  repeated  to 
him  very  often — "Me  preacher,"  but  he  did  not  suc- 
ceed very  well  in  impressing  the  good  Californian 
with  the  dignity  of  his  profession,  for  he  could  talk  no 
Spanish  and  was  not  highly  gifted  in  sign  language. 

When  they  went  away  they  had  no  way  to  reward 
their  good  friends  who  had  been  friends  indeed  to 
them.  They  could  only  look  their  thanks  and  express 
themselves  in  a  very  few  words  of  Spanish.  ''Adios 
Amigos,  "  said  they  to  the  scantily  clothed  travelers  as 
they  set  out  on  their  way  to  the  mines. 

They  followed  down  the  course  of  the  river  that 
flowed  through  the  valley,  the  Santa  Clara  River,  and 
knew  that  it  would  take  them  to  the  sea  at  last.  Be- 
fore they  reached  the  mission  of  San  Buena  Ventura, 
near  the  sea,  they  ran  out  of  meat  again,  for  they  had 
failed  to  find  game  as  they  had  expected,  and  Capt. 
Asa  Ha3'nes  took  the  chances  of  killing  a  Spanish  cow 
that  looked  nice  and  fat.  The}-  camped  around  the 
carcass  and  ate,  and  smoked  the  meat  that  was  left. 
While  thus  engaged  two  horsemen  approached,  and 
after  taking  a  good  look  at  the  proceedings,  galloped 
off  again.  When  the  party  arrived  at  the  Mission 
they  were  arrested  and  taken  before  the  alcalde  to  give 
an  account  of  their  misdeeds.  They  realized  that  they 
were  now  in  a  bad  fix,  and  either  horn  of  the  dilemma 
was  bad  enough.  They  could  not  talk  Spanish;  they 
had  no  money;  they  had  killed  somebody's  cow;  they 


DEATH  VALLEY.  363 

were  ver}'  hungry;  they  might  be  willing  to  payp  but 
had  no  way  of  doing  it;  they  did  not  want  to  languish 
in  jail,  and  how  to  get  out  of  it  they  could  not  under- 
stand. Luck  came  to  them,  however,  in  the  shape  of 
a  man  who  could  speak  both  English  and  Spanish,  to 
whom  they  told  their  story  and  who  repeated  it  to  the 
alcalde,  telling  him  of  their  misfortunes  and  unfortu- 
nate condition,  and  when  that  officer  found  out  all  the 
circumstances  he  promptly  released  them  as  he  did  not 
consider  them  as  criminals.  The  cow  was  probably 
worth  no  more  than  ten  dollars. 

At  Santa  Barbara  they  found  a  chance  to  trade  oif 
some  of  their  oxen  for  mares,  which  were  not  consid- 
ered worth  much,  and  managed  the  barter  so  well  that 
they  came  out  with  a  horse  apiece  and  a  few  dollars 
besides,  with  which  to  buy  grub  along  the  road.  They 
depended  mostly  on  their  guns  for  supplying  them 
with  food.  They  supposed  they  were  about  three 
hundred  miles  from  San  Francisco,  and  expected  to 
meet  with  but  few  people  except  at  the  Missions,  of 
which  they  had  learned  there  were  a  few  along  the 
road.  At  these  there  was  not  much  to  be  had  except 
dried  beef.  However,  they  managed  to  use  the  guns 
with  fair  success,  and  at  last  arrived  safely  at  Stockton 
where  thej^  sold  some  of  their  horses  for  more  than 
double  what  they  cost,  and  with  a  small  number  of 
horses  they  packed  on  to  the  gold  mines. 

Those  of  the  party  who  went  to  Los  Angeles  man- 
aged in  one  way  or  another  to  get  through  on  schoon- 
ers, and  many  of  them,  after  a  year  or  two  of  hard 
work,  made  some  money  and  returned  to  their  homes 
in  Illinois,  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  they  did 
not  return  via  Death  Valley. 

Some  years  afterward  the  members  of  this  party  who 
had  returned  to  their  Eastern  homes  formed  themsel- 
ves into  an  organization  which  they    called    the   Jay- 


364  DEATH  VALLEY 

hawkers'  Union,  appointed  a  chairman  and  secretary, 
and  each  year  every  one  whose  name  and  residence 
could  be  obtained  was  notified  to  be  present  at  some 
designated  place  on  the  fourth  day  of  February  which 
was  the  date  on  which  they  considered  they  passed 
from  impending  death  into  a  richly  promising  life. 
They  always  had  as  good  a  dinner  as  Illinois  could 
produce,  cooked  by  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
pioneers,  and  the  old  tales  were  told  over  again. 

One  part  of  the  program  was  the  calling  of  the  roll, 
and  such  reports  and  letters  as  had  come  to  hand. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  party  so 
far  as  can  be  ascertained,  as  gathered  from  recoUec- 
ions  and  from  the  reports  of  the  meetings  of  the  re- 
unions. 

LIST    OP   JAYHAWKERS. 

The  following  named  were  living,  so  far  as  known, 
in  1893: —  John  B.  Colton  and  Alonzo  C.  Clay,  of 
Galesburg,  111.,  Luther  A.  Richards,  of  WoodhuU,  111., 
Chas.  B.  Mecum,  of  Ripley,  Iowa,  John  W.  Plummer, 
of  Tulon,  111.,  Edward  Bartholomew,  Urban  P.  David- 
son, John  Crosscup  and  L.  Dow  Stephens,  of  San  Jose, 
California,  Harrison  Erans  and  Thomas  Shannon,  of 
Los  Gatos,  Cal.,  J.  W.  Biier  and  wife,  Lodi,  Cal,, 
three  children  of  Mr.  Brier. 

The  following  are  supposed  to  be  dead: —  Asa 
Haines,  Knoxvilie,  111.,  Sidney  P.  Edgerton,  formerly 
of  Blair,  Nebraska,  Thomas  McGrew,  John  Cole,  Wm. 
B.  Rude,  Wm.  Robinson  and  Alex.  Palmer,  of  Knox- 
vilie,  111.,   Marshall  B.   Edgerton,  late  of  Galesburg, 

111.  Wm.  Ischani,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Mr. Fish, 

of  Oskaloosa,   Iowa,    John  L.    West,   Aaron   Larkin, 
Capt.  Edwin  Doty    and    Brien  Byram,  of  Knoxvilie, 

111.,  Mr.  Carter,  of  Wisconsin,  Geo.  Allen,  Lean- 

der  Woolsey  and  Chas.  Clark,  of  Henderson.  111.,  Mr. 


DEATH  VATXEY.  365 

Gretzinger,  of  Oskaloosa,  Iowa,  and  a  Frenchman 

whose  name  is  unknown. 

There  were  some  others  connected  more  or  less  with 
the  party  at  some  part  of  the  trip,  but  not  coming  in 
with  the  Jayhawker  organization.  So  far  as  learned, 
their  names  are  as  folio  vvs: —  John  Galler,  Jim  Woods 
and  Jim  Martin  of  Miss.,  Ed  Croker  of  N.  Y.,  David 
Funk.  Mr.  Town,  Henry  Wade,  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren, Nat  Ward,  John  D.  Martin,  of  Texas,  Old  Fran- 
cis, a  Frenchman,  Fred  Carr  and  Negro  '  'Joe, ' '  from 
Miss. 

There  were  a  great  manj^  reports  about  finding  rich 
mines  about  this  time,  and  these  stories  have  been 
magnified  and  told  in  all  sorts  of  ways  since  then,  and 
parties  have  returned  to  try  to  find  the  great   riches. 

Among  the  Jay  hawkers  were  two  Germans  who 
could  speak  but  little  English  and  probably  for  this 
reason,  kept  apart  from  the  remainder  of  the  party. 

One  day,  after  the  wagons  were  abandoned 
these  German  fellows  were  marching  along  alone  with 
their  packs  on  their  backs  in  the  warm  sun,  suffering 
very  much  for  want  of  water  and  food,  when  one  of 
them  sat  down  on  a  hill-side  in  pretty  nearly  absolute 
despair,  while  the  other  man  went  down  into  a  ravine 
hoping  to  find  a  puddle  of  water  in  the  rocky  bottom 
somt where,  though  it  was  almost  a  forlorn  hope.  All 
at  once  he  called  out  to  his  partner  on  the  hill — '  'John, 
come  down  here  and  get  some  of  this  gold.  There  is 
a  lot  of  it. ' '  To  this  ])oor  John  Galler  only  replied: — 
"No,  I  won't  come.  I  don't  want  any  gold,  but  I 
would  like  very  much  to  have  some  water  and  some 
bread. ' '  And  so  they  left  the  valuable  find  and  slowly 
walked  on,  pulling  through  at  last  with  the  rest  of 
them,  and  reaching  Los  Angeles. 

The  man  who  found  the  gold  went  to    the    Mission 
of  San  Luis  Rey  and  started  a   small    clothing   store, 


366  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

and  some  time  afterward  was  killed.  John  Galler  set- 
tled in  Los  Angeles  and  established  a  wagon  shop  in 
which  he  did  a  successful  business.  He  was  an  hon- 
est, industrious  man  and  the  people  had  great  confi- 
dence in  him.  He  often  told  them  about  what  his 
partner  had  said  about  finding  the  gold  in  the  desert, 
and  the  people  gave  him  an  outfit  on  two  or  three  oc- 
casir>ns  to  go  back  and  re-locate  the  find,  but  he  did 
not  seem  to  have  much  idea  of  location,  and  when  he 
got  back  into  the  desert  again  things  looked  so  differ- 
ent to  him  that  he  was  not  able  to  identify  the  place> 
or  to  be  realh-  certain  they  were  on  the  same  trail 
where  his  companion  found  the  gold. 

The  Author  saw  him  in  1862  and  heard  what  he 
had  to  say  about  it,  and  is  convinced  that  it  was  not 
gold  at  all  which  they  saw.  I  told  him  that  I  more 
than  suspected  that  what  he  saw  was  mica  instead  of 
gold  and  that  both  he  and  his  partner  had  been  decei- 
ved, for  more  than  one  man  not  used  to  gold  had  been 
deceived  before  now.  "No  sir!"  said  he,  "  I  saw  lots 
of  gold  in  Germany,  and  when  I  saw  that  I  knew 
what  it  was. "  The  Author  went  back  over  that  trail 
in  1862  and  sought  out  the  German  on  purpose  to  get 
information  about  the  gold.  He  could  not  give  the 
name  of  a  single  man  who  was  in  the  part}'  at  that 
time,  but  insisted  that  it  was  gold  he  saw  and  that  he 
knew  the  trail. 

The  Author  was  able  to  identif}-  with  reasonable  cer- 
tainty the  trails  followed  by  the  different  parties,  but 
found  no  signs  of  gold  formation  except  some  barren 
quartz,  and  this  after  an  experience  of  several  j'ears 
in  both  placer  and  quartz  mines.  So  honest  John 
Galler 's  famous  placer  mine  still  remains  in  the  great 
list  of  lost  mines,  like  the  Gunsight  Lead  and  other 
noted  mines  for  which  men  have  since  prospected  in 
vain. 


DEATH  VALLEY,  367 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Alexander  Combs  Erkson  was  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  1849,  having  left  the  state  of  Iowa  in  the  month  of 
May,  when  he  assisted  in  organizing  a  company 
known  as  the  "Badger  Company"  at  Kanesville,  the 
object  being  mutual  assistance  and  protection.  This 
company  joined  the  Bennett  party  mentioned  so  prom- 
inently in  this  history,  at  the  Missouri,  and  traveled 
with  them  or  near  them  to  the  rendezvous  near  Salt 
Lake  where  the  new  company  was  organized  for  the 
southern  trip  taken  by  the  Death  Valley  party,  the 
Jayhawkers  and  others.  As  the  experience  of  Mr. 
Erkson  was  in  some  respects  different  to  that  of  the 
parties  mentioned,  he  having  taken  a  different  route 
for  a  part  of  the  way,  it  was  thought  best  to  embody 
it  in  this  history.  The  following  was  dictated  to  the 
editor  of  this  book,  and  as  Mr.  Erkson  died  before  the 
written  account  could  be  revised  by  him,  it  is  the  best 
that  can  possibly  be  obtained. 

MR.   ERKSOn'vS   statement. 

"We  arrived  at  the  Mormon  camp  near  Salt  Lake, 
Salt  Lake  City,  in  the  month  of  August.  Several  of 
us  went  to  work  getting  out  lumber  for  Brigham 
Yonng  while  we  were  waiting  and  resting.  The  mor- 
mons all  advised  us  not  to  undertake  to  go  on  by  the 
northern  route,  and  as  the  travelers  gathered  at  this 
point  they  canvassed  the  situation.  We  used  our 
teams  when  w^e  were  at  work  for  Brigham  and  assisted 
in  building  a  dam  across  a  canon  where  he  intended 
to  build  a  woolen  mill.  I  earned  about  a  hundred  dol- 
lars by  my  work,  which  was  paid  to  me  in  ten-dollar 
pieces  of  a  gold  coin  made  by  the  Mormons.  They 
were  not  like  the  U.   S.   coins.     I  remember  one  side 


368  DEATH  VALLEY. 

had  an  eye  and  the  words — "Holiness  to  the  Lord." 
We  entered  into  an  agreement  with  Capt.  Hunt,  a 
Mormon,  to  pilot  us  through,  and  turned  all  our  gold 
into  that  companj^,  thus  bringing  none  of  the  Mormon 
gold  with  us.  We  went  on  with  the  company  as  has 
been  related  in  the  foregoing  pages,  till  we  arrived  at 
Mt.  Misery,  so  named  by  us,  when  we  took  the  back 
track,  while  Mr.  Manley  and  the  others  went  on  as 
they  have  related.  We  had  meetings  by  the  light  of 
a  greenwood  fire,  and  the  matter  was  talked  up  in  lit- 
tle knots  of  people,  and  then  some  one  would  get  up 
and  speak.  One  J.  W.  Brier,  a  preacher,  was  the 
principal  blower.  'You  are  going  wrong!'  said  he, 
We  should  go  west,  and  in  six  weeks  we  will  be 
loaded  with  gold ! ' 

Hunt  got  a  little  confused  at  a  place  called  Beaver 
Meadows,  or  Mountain  Meadows,  and  thought  per- 
haps he  could  find  a  new  road.  Several  men  were 
sent  out  to  look,  and  some  of  us  in  camp  played  ball 
for  amusement  while  we  were  waiting.  Hunt's  men 
came  back  and  said  there  were  no  prospects  of  a  new 
road,  and  he  said  he  knew  the  southern  route  and  be- 
lieved it  would  be  safe  to  go  that  way. 

He  told  us  that  we  must  decide  the  next  day. 
When  we  came  to  the  road  where  we  were  to  separate 
he  filed  off  on  his  road  and  the  others  filed  off  on  their 
road  and  then  came  back  with  their  whips  in  their 
hands.  I  had  filed  in  after  Hunt,  and  they  tried  to 
convince  me  that  I  was  very  wrong.  A  Mr.  Norton 
of  Adrian,  Mich.,  promised  Mrs.  Erkson  a  horse  to 
ride  if  she  would  go,  and  so  I  left  Hunt  and  turned  in 
on  the  other  road,  the  hindmost  wagon.  This  is  go- 
ing back  a  little  with  the  history  and  bringing  it  up 
to  Mt.  Misery.  On  my  way  back  from  Mt.  Misery  1 
climbed  up  on  a  big  rock  and  inscribed  the  date — Nov. 
ID,  1849. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  369 

In  our  journey  we  came  to  what  is  called  'The  rim 
of  the  Basin, '  and  traveled  along  on  that  a  distance  till 
we  came  to  the  Santa  Clara  River  and  saw  where  the 
Indians  had  raised  corn  and  melons.  We  followed  on 
down  that  stream  and  found  our  teams  gradually  fail- 
ing. Noting  this  we  decided  to  overhaul  our  loads  and 
reject  a  lot  of  things  not  strictly  necessary  to  preserve 
life.  I  know  I  threw  out  a  good  many  valuable  and 
pretty  things  by  the  roadside.  I  remember  six  vol- 
umes of  Rollin's  Ancient  History,  nicely  bound,  with 
my  name  on  the  back,  that  were  piled  up  and  left. 
We  followed  along  near  the  Santa  Clara  River  till  it 
emptied  into  the  Virgi.i  River.  It  was  somewhere 
along  here  that  we  first  saw  some  Yucca  trees.  The 
boys  often  set  fire  to  them  to  see  them  burn. 

The  Virgin  River  was  a  small  stream  running  on 
about  the  course  we  wanted  to  travel,  and  we  followed 
this  course  for  thirty  or  forty  miles.  We  found  plenty 
of  wood  and  water  and  mesquite.  After  awhile  the 
river  turned  off  to  the  left,  while  we  wanted  to  keep 
to  the  right,  so  we  parted  company  there.  We  heard 
of  a  river  beyond  which  they  called  the  'Big  Muddy* 
and  we  went  up  a  little  arroyo,  then  over  a  divide  to 
some  table  land  that  led  us  down  to  the  Big  Muddy. 
We  made  our  wagons  as  light  as  possible,  taking  off 
all  the  boards  and  stakes  we  could  possibly  get  along 
without.  Wm.  Philipps  and  others  were  placed  on 
short  allowance.  They  had  an  idea  that  I  had  more 
provisions  in  my  wagon  than  I  ought  to  have,  but  I 
told  them  that  it  was  clothing  that  we  used  to  sleep 
on.  I  divided  among  them  once  or  twice.  When  we 
reached  the  Muddy  we  stopped  two  or  three  days  for 
there  was  plenty  of  feed.  It  was  a  narrow  stream 
that  seemed  as  if  it  must  come  from  springs.  It  was 
narrow  between  banks,  but  ran  pretty  deep,  and  a 
streak  of  fog  marked  its  course  in  the  morning.     We 


370  DEATH  VALLEY. 

understood  it  was  not  very  far  from  where  we  left  the 
\^irgin  River  to  the  Colorado,  some  said  not  more  than 
fourteen  miles,  and  that  the  Colorado  turned  sharply 
to  the  south  at  that  point.  Mr.  Rhynierson  and  wife 
•had  a  child  born  to  them  on  the  X' irgin  River,  and  it 
was  named  Virginia. 

It  was  a  gloomy  trip  the  whole  time  on  the  Muddy. 
I  lost  three  or  four  head  of  cattle,  all  within  a  day  and 
a  night.  Mrs.  Erkson  walked  to  lighten  the  load,  and 
would  pick  all  the  bunches  of  grass  she  saw  and  put 
them  on  the  wagon  to  feed  the  oxen  when  we  stopped. 
I  let  them  pass  me  and  stopped  and  fed  the  cattle,  and 
slept  ourselves.  It  was  said  that  we  ran  great  risks 
from  Indians,  but  we  did  not  see  any.  I  had  at  this 
time  only  two  yoke  of  oxen  left. 

We  overtook  the  party  next  moining  at  nine  o'clock, 
having  met  some  of  them  who  were  coming  back  after 
us.  All  were  rejoiced  that  we  had  come  on  safely. 
Here  I  met  Elisha  Bennett  and  told  him  my  story. 
He  said  he  could  sell  me  a  yoke  of  oxen.  He  had  a 
yoke  in  J.  A.  Phllipps'  team  and  was  going  to  take 
them  out.  He  said  nothing  in  particular  as  to  price. 
I  said  that  I  wanted  to  see  Mr.  Philipps  and  talk  with 
him  about  the  matter,  for  he  had  said  Bennett  should 
•not  have  the  cattle.  I  went  over  to  see  him  and  spoke 
to  him  about  Bennett's  cattle  and  he  told  me  they  had 
quarreled  and  I  could  have  them,  and  so  we  made  a 
bargain.  I  gave  twenty  dollars  for  the  cattle,  the  last 
money  I  had,  and  as  much  provisions  as  he  could 
carry  on  his  back.  They  were  making  up  a  party  to 
reach  the  settlements  at  the  Williams  ranch,  and  I 
made  arrangements  for  theni  to  send  back  provisions 
for  us.  About  thirty  started  that  way — young  men 
and  men  with  no  families  with  them. 

I  got  along  very  well  with  my  new  team  after  thai. 
It  was  about  fortv  miles  from  water  to    water,  and    I 


DEATH  VALLEY.  371 

think  we  camped  three  times.  At  one  place  we  found 
that  provisions  had  been  left,  with  a  notice  that  the 
material  was  for  us,  but  the  red-skins  got  the  provis- 
ions.    We  struck  a  .spring  called ,  a  small  spring 

of  water,  and  a  child  of  some  of  the  party  died  there 
and  was  buried. 

We  then  went  more  nearly  south  to  find  the  Mojave 
River,  for  we  hoped  to  find  water  there.  It  was  very 
scarce  with  us  then,  We  had  one  pretty  cold  day,  but 
generally  fine  weather,  and  to  get  along  we  traveled 
at  night  and  a  party  struck  the  Mojave.  Here  there 
was  some  grass,  and  the  mustard  was  beginning  to 
start  up  and  some  elder  bushes  to  put  forth  leaves.  I 
picked  .'•ome  of  the  mustard  and  chewed  it  to  try  to 
get  back  my  natural  taste.  Here  the  party  divided,  a 
part  going  to  the  left  to  San  Bernardino  and  the  re- 
mainder to  the  right  to  Cucamunga.  I  was  with  the 
latter  party  and  we  got  there  before  night. 

Rhyuierson  said  to  one  of  the  party — 'Charlie,  you 
had  better  hurry  on  ahead  and  try  to  get  some  meat 
before  the  crowd  comes  up. '  Charlie  went  on  ahead 
and  we  drove  along  at  the  regular  gait  which  was  not 
very  fast  about  these  times.  We  saw  nothing  of 
Charlie  and  so  I  went  to  the  house  to  look  for  him 
and  found  him  dead  drunk  on  wine.  He  had  not  said 
a  word  to  them  about  provisions.  That  wine  wrecked 
us  all.  All  had  a  little  touch  of  scurvy,  and  it  seem- 
ed to  be  just  what  we  craved.  I  bought  a  big  tum- 
bler of  it  for  two  bits  and  carried  it  to  my  wife.  She 
tasted  it  at  first  rather  gingerly,  then  took  a  little  lar- 
ger sup  of  it,  and  then  put  it  to  her  lips  and  never 
stopped  drinking  till  the  last  drop  was  gone.  I  looked 
a  little  bit  surprised  and  she  looked  at  me  and  inno- 
cently asked — 'Why!  Haven't  you  had  any?'  I  was 
afraid  she  would  be  the  next  one  to  be  dead  drunk, 
but  it  never  affected    her    in    that    wav    at    all.     We 


372  DEATH  VALLEY. 

bought  a  cow  here  to  kill,  and  used  the  meat  either 
fresh  or  dried,  and  then  went  on  to  the  Williams,  or 
Chino  ranch.  Col.  Williams  was  glad  to  see  us,  and 
said  we  could  have  everything  we  wanted.  We 
wanted  to  get  wheat,  for  we  had  lived  so  long  on  meat 
that  we  craved  such  food.  He  told  us  about  the  jour- 
ney before  us  and  where  we  would  find  places  to  camp. 
Here  we  found  one  of  the  Gruwells.  We  camped  here 
a  week,  meeting  many  emigrants  who  came  by  way 
of  Santa  Fe. 

We  went  on  from  here  to  San  Gabriel  where  we 
staid  six  weeks  to  rest  and  recuperate  the  cattle.  In 
the  good  grass  we  found  here  they  all  became  about 
as  fat  as  ever  in  a  little  while.  Here  the  party  all 
broke  up  and  no  sort  of  an  organization  was  kept  up 
beyond  here.  Some  went  to  Los  Angeles,  some  went 
on  north,  trading  off  their  cattle  for  horses,  and  some 
went  directly  to  the  coast.  We  went  to  the  Mission 
of  San  Fernando  where  we  got  some  oranges  which 
were  ver}-  good  for  us.  There  is  a  long,  tedious  hill 
there  to  get  over.  We  made  up  ten  wagons.  By  the 
time  we  reached  the  San  Francisquito  Ranch  I  had 
lost  my  cattle.  I  went  down  to  this  ranch  and  there 
met  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Arcane  getting  ready  to  go  to  San 
Pedro.  We  came  north  by  way  of  Tejon  pass  and 
the  Kern  River,  not  far  from  quite  a  large  lake,  and 
reached  the  mines  at  last.  I  remember  we  killed  a 
very  fat  bear  and  tried  out  the  grease,  and  with  this 
grease  and  some  flour  and  dried  apples  Mrs.  Erkson 
made  some  pretty  good  pies  which  the  miners  were 
glad  to  get  at  a  dollar  and  even  two  dollars  apiece." 

Mr.  Erkson  followed  mining  for  about  a  year  and 
then  went  into  other  business  until  he  came  to  Santa 
Clara  Valley  and  began  farming  near  Alviso.  He  has 
been  a  highly  respected  citizen  and  progressive  man. 
He  died  in  San  Jose  in  the  spring  of  1893. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  373 

THE  EXPERIENCE  OF  EDWARD  COKER. 

Edward  Coker  was  one  of  a  part}'  of  twenty-one 
men  who  left  their  wagons,  being  impatient  of  the 
slow  progress  made  by  the  ox  train,  and  organized  a 
pack  train  in  which  they  were  themselves  the  burden 
carriers.  They  discarded  everything  not  absolutely 
necessary  to  sustain  life,  packed  all  their  provisions 
into  knapsacks,  bravely  shouldered  them  and  started 
ofif  on  foot  from  the  desert  to  reach  California  by  the 
shortest  way. 

Among  those  whom  Mr.  Coker  can  recollect  are 
Capt.  Nat.  Ward,  Jim  Woods,  Jim  Martin  of  Missouii, 
John  D.  Martin  of  Texas,  "Old  Francis, "  a  French 
Canadian,  Fred  Carr,  Negro  "Joe"  and  some  others 
from  Coffeeville,  Miss.,  with  others  from  other  states. 

Mr.  Coker  related  his  experience  to  the  Author 
somewhat  as  follows: — 

One  other  of  the  party  was  a  colored  man  who 
joined  us  at  the  camp  when  we  left  the  families,  he 
being  the  only  remaining  member  of  a  small  party 
who  had  followed  our  wagon  tracks  after  we  had  tried 
to  proceed  south.  This  party  was  made  up  ot  a  Mr. 
Culverwell  who  had  formerly  been  a  writer  in  a  Gov- 
ernment office  at  Washington,  D.  C  ,  a  man  named 
Fish  claiming  to  be  a  relative  of  Hamilton  Fish  of 
New  York,  and  another  man  whose  name  I  never 
knew.  He,  poor  fellow,  arrived  at  our  camp  in  a 
starving  condition  and  died  before  our  departure. 
The  other  two  unfortunates  ones  died  on  the  desert, 
and  the  colored  man  reported  that  he  simply  covered 
their   remains  with  their  blankets. 

I  well  remember  that  last  night  in  camp  before  we 
started  with  our  knapsacks  and  left  the  families,  for  it 
was  plain  the  women  and  children  must  go  very  slow, 
and  we  felt  we  could  go  over  rougher  and  shorter 
roads  on  foot  and  get  through  sooner  by  going  straight 


374  DEATH  VALLEY. 

across  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains.  Our  condition 
was  certainly  appalling.  We  were  without  water,  all 
on  the  verge  of  starvation,  and  the  three  poor  cattle 
which  yet  remained  alive  were  objects  of  pity.  It 
seemed  almost  a  crime  to  kill  the  poor  beasts,  so  little 
real  food  was  there  left  on  their  skeleton  frames. 
They  had  been  so  faithful  and  had  plodded  along  when 
there  seemed  no  hope  for  them.  They  might  still 
serve  to  keep  the  party  from  starvation. 

It  was  at  this  camp  that  Mr.  Ischam  died.  The 
night  btfore  our  departure  he  came  wandering  into 
camp  and  presenced  such  an  awful  appearance,  simply 
a  living  skeleton  of  a  once  grand  and  powerful  man. 
He  must  have  suffered  untold  agonj^  as  he  struggled 
on  to  overtake  the  part}',  starving  and  alone,  with  the 
knowledge  that  two  of  his  companions  had  perished 
miserably  of  starvation  in  that  unknown  wilderness  of 
rocks  and  alkali. 

Our  journey  on  foot  through  the  mountains  was  full 
of  adventure  and  suffering.  On  our  arrival  at  the 
shores  of  Owen's  Lake  not  a  man  of  the  party  had  a 
mouthful  of  food  left  in  his  pack,  and  to  add  to  our 
difhcultes  we  had  several  encounters  with  the  hostile 
Indians.  There  was  a  fearful  snow  storm  falling  at 
Owen's  Lake  on  the  evening  that  we  arrived  there, 
and  we  could  make  no  fire.  The  Indians  gathered 
around  us  and  we  did  not  know  exactly  what  to  make 
of"  them,  nor  could  we  determine  whether  their  mten- 
tions  were  good  or  bad.  We  examined  the  lake  and 
determined  to  try  to  ford  it,  and  thus  set  out  by  the 
light  of  the  moon  that  occasionally  peeped  out  from 
behind  the  clouds,  while  the  red  devils  stood  howling 
on  the  shore. 

The  following  morning  we  found  what  was  then 
known  as  the  Fremont  Trail,  and  bj-  the  advice  of 
some  friendly  Indians  who  came  into   our   camp,  we 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY.  375 

kept  the  "big  trail"  for  three  days  and  came  to  Wal- 
ker's Pass.  While  on  this  trail  we  were  followed  at 
night  by  a  number  of  wild  Indians,  but  we  prudently 
avoided  any  collisions  with  them  and  kept  moving  on. 
Going  on  through  the  pass  we  followed  the  right  hand 
branch  of  the  trail,  the  left  hand  branch  leading  more 
to  the  south  and  across  a  wide  plain.  We  soon  came 
to  a  fair-sized  stream,  now  known  to  be  the  south  fork 
of  the  Kern  River,  which  we  followed  until  we  came 
to  its  junction  with  a  larger  river,  the  two  making 
the  Kern  River.  Here  we  were  taken  across  by  some 
friendly  Indians  who  left  the  Missions  farther  west 
during  the  Mexican  war  and  took  to  their  own  village 
located  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains. 
At  this  village  we  were  on  exhibition  for  several  hours 
with  an  audience  of  five  hundred  people  or  more,  of 
the  red  men,  and  on  the  following  morning  we  com- 
menced the  ascent  of  the  mountains  again,  the  Indians 
furnishing  us  with  a  guide  in  the  person  of  an  old  Pi- 
Ute.  He  brought  us  over  the  range,  through  the 
snow  and  over  the  bleak  ridges,  in  the  month  of  De- 
cember, 1849,  and  we  made  our  first  camp  at  an  In- 
dian village  in  Tulare  Valley,  a  few  miles  south  of 
where  Porterville  now  stands. 

From  this  Indian  village  w^e  walked  on  until  we  ar 
rived  at  the  present  site  of  Millerton  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  San  Joaquin  River.  Our  sufferings  were 
terrible  from  hunger,  cold,  and  wet,  for  the  rains  were 
almost  continual  at  this  elevation,  and  we  had  been 
forced  several  times  to  swim.  The  sudden  change 
from  the  dried-up  desert  to  a  rainy  region  was  pretty 
severe  on  us.  On  our  arrival  at  the  San  Joaquin  River 
we  found  a  camp  of  wealthy  Mexicans  who  gave  us  a 
small  amount  of  food,  and  seemed  to  want  us  to  pass 
on  that  they  might  be  rid  of  us.  I  can  well  believe 
that  a  company  of  twenty-one  starving  men  was  the 


376  DEATH  VALLEY. 

cause  of  some  disquietude  to  them.  They  gave  us 
some  hides  taken  from  some  of  the  cattle  they  had  re- 
cently slain,  and  from  these  we  constructed  a  boot  and 
ferry  rope  in  which  we  crossed  the  river,  and  then  con- 
tinued our  journey  to  the  mining  camp  on  Aqua  Frio, 
in  Mariposa  county. 

It  is  very  strange  to  think  that  since  that  time  I 
have  never  met  a  single  man  of  that  party  of  twenty- 
one.  I  had  kept  quite  full  notes  of  the  whole  trip 
from  the  state  of  New  York  to  the  mines,  and  includ- 
niy  earl}^  mining  experience  up  to  the  year  1851.  Un- 
fortunately this  manuscript  was  burned  at  the  Russ 
House  fire  in  Fresno,  where  I  also  lost  many  personal 
effects. ' ' 

In  the  year  1892  Mr.  Coker  was  living  in  Fresno,  or 
near  that  city,  in  fairly  comfortable  health,  and  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  evening  of  his  da^^s,  to  which  all 
the  old  pioneers  are  rapidly  approaching,  may  be  to 
him  all  that  his  brightest  hopes  pictured. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  377 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Having  followed  the  various  little  parties  into  which 
the  great  train  had  resolved  itself  when  it  began  to 
feel  the  pressure  of  suffering  and  trouble  which  came 
with  contact  with  the  desert,  followed  them  in  their 
various  ways  till  they  came  through  to  the  Pacific 
Slope,  the  travels  and  experiences  of  the  Author  are 
again  resumed. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  he  had  rested  at  Los 
Angeles,  working  for  Mr.  Brier  who  had  temporarily 
turned  boarding  house  keeper,  and  finally  made  ar- 
rangements with  some  drovers  to  assist  in  taking  a 
small  stock  of  horses  noith  to  the  mines.  His  story 
is  thus  continued: — 

We  followed  the  wagon  road  which  the  companies 
that  had  gone  on  before  had  made,  and  got  along  ver}^ 
well.  At  night  I  acted  independently — staked  out  my 
mule  and  ate  my  meal  of  dried  meat  and  crackers — 
then  joined  the  others  around  a  large  fire,  and  all 
seemed  to  enjoy  the  compan3^  After  a  few  days  the 
two  men  who  owned  the  horses  proposed  to  me  to  let 
my  mule  carr}^  the  provisions,  and  they  wanted  me  to 
ride  one  of  their  horses  that  was  not  carrying  a  jjack, 
as  they  said  it  would  keep  it  more  gentle  to  ride  it. 

To  please  the  old  gentleman  from  Sacramento  I 
agreed  to  the  proposition,  for  I  thought  j^erhaps  by 
being  accomodating  I  could  get  along  more  pleasantlj'. 

Thus  we  traveled  on,  over  rolling  hills  covered  with 
grass  and  wild  flowers,  and  I  was  much  pleased  with 
all  that  I  could  see.  For  the  first  two  days  we  did 
not  pass  a  house,  which  shows  how  thinly  settled  the 
country  was.  Cattle  were  often  seen,  and  somet'mes 
horses,  but  people  were  very  ?parce.     In  time  we  went 


378  DEATH  VALLEY. 

down  a  long,  steep  hill,  then  across  a  wide  valley  that 
supported  a  rank  growth  of  vegetation,  and  came  to  a 
Mission  called  San  Buena  Ventura  (good  luck.) 
Here  the  men  seemed  scarce,  but  Indians  and  dogs 
plenty.  The  houses  were  of  the  same  sort  as  at  Los 
Angeles,  except  the  church,  all  made  of  dried  mud, 
and  never  more  than  one  story  high. 

As  we  journeyed  along  we  came  to  the  sea  shore, 
the  grandest  sight  in  the  world  to  me,  for  I  had  never 
before  seen  the  ocean.  What  a  wide  piece  of  water  it 
was!  Far  out  I  could  see  small  waves  coming  toward 
the  shore,  and  the  nearer  they  came  the  faster  they 
seemed  to  rush  and  at  last  turned  into  great  rollers 
and  breakers  which  dashed  upon  the  rocks  or  washed 
far  up  the  sand}  shore  with  a  force  that  made  the 
ground  tremble.  There  was  no  wind  and  I  could  not 
see  what  it  could  be  that  so  strangely  agitated  the 
water.  Here  the  waves  kept  coming,  one  after  an- 
other, with  as  much  regularity  as  the  slow  strokes  of 
a  clock.  This  was  the  first  puzzle  the  great  sea  pro- 
pounded to  me,  and  there  under  the  clear  blue  sky 
and  soft  air  I  studied  over  the  ceaseless,  restless  mo- 
tion and  the  great  power  that  was  always  beating  on 
the  shore.  I  tasted  the  water  and  found  it  exceed- 
ingly salt,  and  I  did  not  see  how  anything  could  live 
in  it  and  not  become  in  the  condition  of  pickled  pork 
or  fish.  Where  was  the  salt  to  make  this  mighty 
brine  pond,  and  why  did  it  keep  so  when  the  great 
rivers  kept  pouring  in  their  torrents  of  fresh  waters? 
I  did  not  understand,  and  these  are  some  of  the 
thoughts  that  came  to  the  boy  who  had  been  raised 
upon  the  prairie,  and  to  whom  the  great  ocean  was 
indeed  an  unkiiown  sea. 

We  followed  along  the  road  and  in  time  came  to 
another  village  and  Mission  called  Santa  Barbara. 
The  village  was  near  tl  e  shore,  and  the  church  farther 


DEATH  VALLEY.  379 

back  upon  an  elevated  piece  of  ground  near  the  foot  of 
the  mountain,  overlooking  the  town  and  sea  and  much 
of  the  country  to  the  south,  west  and  east.  The 
mountain  was  high  and  rough,  and  a  point  ran  out 
into  the  sea  making  a  sort  of  harbor.  This  town  was 
built  much  as  the  others  had  been  except  perhaps  the 
Mission  which  seemed  better.  The  roofs  were  as  flat 
as  the  floors  and  were  covered  with  a  sort  of  tar  which 
made  them  water-proof.  The  material  of  the  houses 
was  sun-dried  bricks,  two  feet  long  by  one  foot  wide 
and  four  to  six  inches  thick.  There  was  no  lime  in 
the  mortar  of  this  mason  work,  and  the  openings  in 
the  walls  had  iron  bars  across  them  instead  of  sash  and 
glass.  Dried  hides  were  spread  upon  the  floors,  and 
there  was  a  large  earthen  jar  for  water,  but  not  a  table, 
bedstead  or  chair  could  be  seen  in  the  rooms  we  saw. 
A  man  came  along,  rode  right  in  at  the  door,  turned 
around  and  rode  out  again.  The  floor  was  so  hard 
that  the  horse's  feet  made  no  impression  on  it.  Very 
few  men,  quite  a  number  of  Indians,  more  women,  and 
a  still  larger  quantity  of  dogs  made  up  the  inhabitants. 
Leaving  here  the  road  led  back  from  the  sea  shore 
and  over  quite  a  level  table  land,  cov^ered  with  a  big 
grovv^th  of  grass  and  some  timber,  and  then  down  to 
the  sandy  shore  again  where  the  mountain  comes  so 
close  that  we  were  crowded  down  to  the  very  water's 
edge.  Here  the  never-tiring  waves  were  still  follo^v- 
ing  each  other  to  the  shore  and  dashing  themselves  to 
pieces  with  such  a  noise  that  I  felt  awed  to  silence. 
What  a  strange  difference  in  two  parts  of  the  earth  so 
little  disiance  from  each  other!  Here  was  a  waste  of 
waters,  there  was  a  waste  of  sands  that  may  some  time 
have  been  the  bottom  of  just  such  a  dashing,  rolling 
sea  as  this.  And  here,  between  the  two,  was  a  fertile 
region  covered  with  trees,  grass  and  flowers,  and  wa- 
tered with  brooks  of  fresh,  sweet  water.    Paradise  and 


38o  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

Desolation !  They  surely  were  not  far  apart.  Here  I 
saw  some  of  the  queer  things  that  wash  on  shore,  for 
we  camped  close  to  the  beach. 

It  was  a  circumstance  of  great  interest  to  me  to  see 
the  sun  slowly  go  down  into  the  great  ocean.  Slowly 
and  steadily  it  went,  getting  redder  and  redder  as  it 
went  down,  then  it  just  touched  the  distant  water  and 
the  waves  dashed  over  more  and  more  of  its  face  till 
all  was  covered.  Were  it  not  for  the  strong,  bright 
rays  that  still  shot  up  across  the  sky  one  might  think 
it  was  drowned  forever,  but  in  the  morning  it  came 
\ip  over  the  mountain  top,  having  apparently  made 
half  the  circuit  of  the  globe. 

Soon  after  this  the  road  left  the  shore  and  turned 
into  ihe  mountains.  Another  Mission  was  on  this 
road,  Santa  Ynez,  situated  in  a  beautiful  place  but  ap- 
parently in  decay,  for  the  men  had  gone  to  the  mines, 
leaving  the  Indians,  women,  and  dogs  as  in  other 
places.  San  L,uis  Obispo  was  another  Mission  simi- 
larly inhabited,  but  the  surroundings  did  not  seem  so 
pleasant  as  those  we  had  seen  before,  although  it  bore 
signs  that  considerable  had  been  done.  From  here 
our  road  bore  sttU  more  north  and  we  had  a  long 
mountain  to  work  over,  very  rockj^,  and  in  some  pla- 
ces barren. 

San  Miguel  was  a  Mission  situated  on  the  bank  of 
a  dry  stream  that  evidently  had  seen  plenty  of  water 
earlier  in  the  season.  The  surrounding  country  was 
covered  with  scattering  timber'  Soledad  was  another 
place  where  there  were  some  improvements,  located 
on  a  small  Hver,  but  nearly  deserted  like  the  other 
places.  Prospects  at  the  gold  mines  were  so  favorable 
that  everj"-  man  felt  an  irresistable  desire  to  enrich 
himself,  and  so  they  left  their  families  at  the  Missions 
and  in  the  towns  and  rushed  off  to  the  mines.  Nearly 
all  of  them  expected  to  return  by  winter. 


DEATH  V^\LI.EY.  381 

I  think  I  must  stop  right  here  and  tell  about  the 
'California  carriages  of  which  I  had  seen  several  at  Los 
Angeles  and  at  the  Missions  along  our  road.  The 
£rst  time  I  saw  one  it  was  a  great  curiousity,  I  assure 
you.  The  wheels  were  cut  off  the  end  of  a  sycamore 
log  a  little  over  two  feet  in  diameter  and  each  section 
about  a  foot  long.  The  axle  was  a  piece  of  wood 
€ight  inches  square  with  a  tongue  fastened  to  it  long 
enough  to  be  used  with  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  the  ends 
•of  the  axle  were  roughly  rounded,  leaving  something 
of  a  shoulder.  The  wheels  were  retained  in  place  by 
a  big  lynch-pin.  On  the  axle  and  tongue  was  a  strong 
frame  of  square  hewed  timbers  answering  for  bed 
pieces,  and  the  bottom  was  ot  raw-hide  tightly  stret- 
■ched,  which  covered  the  whole  frame.  Tall  stakes  at 
•each  corner  of  the  frame  held  up  an  awning  in  hot 
weather.  The  yoke  was  fastened  to  the  horns  of  the 
oxen  by  strong,  narrow  strips  of  raw-hide,  and  the 
tongue  was  fastened  to  the  yoke  in  the  same  way. 
The  driver  was  generally  an  Indian,  armed  with  a 
small  pole  six  or  eight  feet  long,  who  marched  on  be- 
fore, the  oxen  following  after.  I  saw  many  a  wagon 
like  this,  the  platform  well  filled  up  with  women  and 
•children,  and  a  pack  of  dogs  following  along  behind, 
slowly  rolling  over  the  country,  and  this  is  the  way 
they  traveled  when  they  went  visiting  friends  who 
lived  a  few  miles  in  the  country.  Sometimes  the 
wheels  gave  perfectly  agonizing  shrieks  as  they  revol- 
ved, and  when  they  made  so  much  noise  that  their 
strong  Spanish  nerves  could  stand  it  no  longer,  if 
there  was  any  green  grass  to  be  found  the  drivers 
would  crowd  in  a  quantity  around  the  axle,  and  there 
was  generally  room  for  a  good  lot  of  it,  to  answer  for 
a  lubricator. 

We  passed  on  from  Soledad  and  shortly  rose  into  the 
table  land  we  had  seen  for  some  time  before  us.     From 


382  DEATH  VAlvLEY. 

here  we  could  look  north  for  a  long  way  with  no  hilE 
or  mountain  in  sight;  but  our  road  led  aiong  on  the 
east  side  of  this  treeless  plain,  so  thickly  covered  with 
grass  that  we  recalled  some  of  the  old  tales  of  the 
grassy  plains.  We  passed  a  landholder's  house  on  the 
road,  then  crossed  a  range  of  low  mountains  and  came 
to  the  Mission  of  San  Juan  (St.  John)  situated  near 
the  foot-hills,  overlooking  a  level,  rich  appearing  ex- 
tent of  valley  land  with  a  big  vegetable  growth  all 
over  it;  in  some  places  wild  mustard  which  stood 
thickly  and  was  from  four  to  ten  feet  high.  I  thought 
what  a  splendid  place  it  would  be  for  the  Yankees  who 
are  fond  of  greens. 

This  was  the  first  place  since  we  left  L,os  Angeles 
where  we  could  buy  any  kind  of  breadstuff,  and  we 
were  here  enabled  to  get  a  change  of  diet,  including 
greens.  This  seemed  to  be  one  end  or  side  of  another 
valley,  and  as  we  went  along  it  seemed  to  widen  away 
to  the  east;  but  our  course  was  to  the  north,  and  we 
followed  the  road.  The  architecture  of  all  the  build- 
ings except  the  churches  was  all  the  same,  being  built 
of  the  sun  dried  adobes  or  bricks  made  by  mixing  up 
a  clay  mud  with  tough  grass  and  letting  it  get  dry  and 
hard.  We  saw  the  same  kind  of  roof  material  as  be- 
fore, a  sort  of  mineral  tar  which  I  supposed  they  must 
find  somewhere  about. 

I  could  imagine  why  the  houses  were  built  in  this 
way,  for  when  the  Jesuit  missionaries  first  came  in 
they  found  the  country  occupied  by  Indians  who  used 
their  arrows  to  good  effect,  as  they  were  jealous  of  all 
outside  occupation.  The  early  settlers  evidently  made 
the  walls  of  their  dwellings  thick  and  strong  enough 
to  resist  all  kinds  of  weapons  used  by  Indians.  They 
could  not  set  fire  to  them  for  they  were  fire  proof  and 
arrow  proof,  and  the  hostile  Indian  could  dance  on  the 
roof  without  being  able  to  get  in    or   do    any    injury. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  383 

Thus  the  poor  Indian  was  fairly  beat  and  eventually 
became  a  better  Indian. 

The  Indians  of  what  is  now  Nevada  and  Arizona 
used  to  come  over  into  these  rich  valleys  and  clandes- 
tinely capture  a  band  of  a  hundred  or  more  head  of 
cattle  or  horses  and  make  their  escape.  They  were 
often  followed  by  the  berders,  but  if  they  did  not  over- 
take the  thieves  before  they  got  into  the  deep  canons 
of  the  mountains,  they  would  usually  turn  back  and 
let  them  go  rather  than  be  led  into  ambush  in  some 
strange  narrow  place  where  escape  would  be  impos- 
sible and  they  might  be  filled  with  arrows.  No  doubt 
the  trail  we  had  followed  across  the  plains,  where 
there  were  so  many  horses'  bones,  was  one  of  these 
trails  along  which  the  thieving  Indians  took  their 
booty  which  died  upon  the  trip. 

Our  road  from  here  was  near  the  foot-hills  on  the 
west  side  of  a  level,  grassy,  thinly  timbered  valley, 
and  as  we  advanced  we  noticed  that  the  timber  grew 
more  plentiful  and  the  trees  larger,  without  much 
underbrush.  We  also  noticed  that  the  vegetation  was 
ranker  and  no  doubt  the  soil  was  very  rich.  We  then 
■came  to  a  point  where  the  mountain  reaches  out  al- 
most across  the  valley  to  meet  the  mountain  on  the 
€ast  side.  Here  we  found  a  gravelly  creek  with  but 
little  water,  but  as  soon  as  we  passed  this  point  we 
saw  the  valley  suddenly  widening  out,  and  beautiful 
groves  of  live  oak  trees  scattered  all  around.  The 
vegetation  here  was  very  rank,  the  mustard  ten  feet 
liigh  in  places,  making  it  difficult  to  see  out  of  the 
Toad.  This  was  perhaps  the  strongest  contrast  to  the 
larid  desert  that  we  had  seen. 

As  we  went  on  down  the  valley  the  hills  seemed  to 
•stand  farther  and  farther  back  as  if  to  make  more  room 
for  those  who  would  soon  settle  in  this  fertile  place, 
and  we  soon  came  in  sight  of  the  village  or  pueblo  of 


384  DEATH  VALLEY 

San  Jose  (St.  Joseph)  where  we  camped.  Here  we 
learned  that  the  two  owners  of  the  horses  intended  to 
go  to  San  Francisco  instead  of  Sacramento,  and  as  we 
considered  the  former  place  a  very  poor  one  for  a  pen- 
niless person  to  go  we  concluded  to  break  up  the  com- 
pany camp  and  each  do  the  best  he  could  for  himself, 
for  our  objective  point  was  the  gold  mines,  and  the 
sooner  we  reached  them  the  better. 

The  drovers  who  had  been  anxious  to  have  us  go 
with  them  and  help  them  now  began  to  talk  about  a 
settlement  with  us,  as  if  they  had  done  us  great  favors, 
and  called  on  the  other  fellows  to  help  pay  for  their 
board  upon  the  way.  When  they  came  to  me  they 
said  my  share  would  be  an  ounce.  This  struck  me 
hard,  but  they  said  I  had  ridden  their  horse  all  the 
way  and  the  charge  was  very  low.  I  told  them  I  had 
furnished  the  most  of  the  provisions  I  had  eaten,  and 
my  mule  had  packed  a  good  load  all  the  way,  which 
I  considered  worth  as  much  as  the  use  of  the  horse. 
But  they  refused  to  allow  me  anything  for  the  use  of 
the  mule  and  became  very  urgent  in  their  demand  for 
money. 

These  men  were  evidently  of  the  tribe  of  Skinflint, 
who  had  no  souls,  or  they  would  not  have  attempted 
to  rob  an  almost  penniless  emigrant  in  this  way  of  the 
last  few  dollars  he  had,  and  all  the  hope  he  had  of 
reaching  the  mines.  I  did  not  desire  to  give  up  to 
such  narrow  principles  as  this  and  hesitated,  but  they 
were  bound  to  have  the  money  or  make  a  quarrel,  and 
talked  pretty  loud  of  the  way  they  collected  debts  in 
Sacramento,  so  that  to  avoid  trouble  and  get  out  of 
the  clutches  of  such  mean  scoundrels  as  these  I  count- 
ed out  sixteen  dollars,  almost  every  cent  I  had,  and 
reluctantly  gave  them  to  my  enemy.  I  immediately 
jiounted  my  mule,  and  without  stopping  to  say  good- 
bye rode  off.     I  may  have  quoted  a  part  of  the  speech 


DEATH  VALI^EY,  385 

Capt.  Hunt  made  when  the  party  wanted  to  leave  the 
trail  and  take  the  cut-off,  especially  that  part  where 
he  alluded  to  their  going  to  h — 1.  I  very  much  fear 
the  little  piety  my  mother  taught  me  was  badly  strain- 
ed on  that  occasion,  and  I  thought  of  a  good  many 
swear  words  if  I  did  not  sa3^  them,  which  I  suppose  is 
about  as  bad.  I  could  see  how  cunningly  they  had 
managed  to  get  me  to  ride  their  horse  that  it  might 
serve  as  the  foundation  for  a  claim  on  me  for  about  all 
the  money  I  had  in  the  world. 

I  hitched  my  mule  in  the  edge  of  the  town  and  went 
in  to  loDk  at  the  place.  The  houses  were  situated 
very  much  as  in  other  places  we  had  come  through — 
scattered  around  over  much  ground  and  built  low,  but 
had  a  different  style  of  roof,  a  peaked  or  sloping  one, 
and  covered  with  half  round  tile  two  feet  or  more  long 
and  an  inch  thick.  One  course  of  these  would  be  laid 
with  the  hollow  side  up,  and  then  a  course  with  the 
hollow  side  down,  covering  the  joints  of  the  lower 
course.  This  allowed  the  air  to  circulate  freely  and 
was  proof  against  rain.  I  saw  no  flat  roofs  such  as  I 
had  seen  down  along  the  coast.  I  saw  one  gambling 
house  and  about  all  the  men  in  town  were  gathered 
there,  and  some  women,  too.  This  was  the  busi 
est  place  in  town  and  situated  near  the  plaza.  This 
was  the  largest  town  I  had  yet  been  in.  There  seem- 
ed to  be  plenty  of  women  and  lots  of  dogs,  but  the 
men  were  as  scarce  as  they  had  been  in  any  of  the 
towns — gone  to  the  gold  mines  to  make  a  stake.  I 
took  in  the  sights  pretty  well,  and  there  were  a  great 
many  new  things  for  me  to  see,  and  when  pretty  well 
satisfied  concluded  I  would  go  back  to  my  mule  and 
camp  in  some  place  just  out  of  town  for  the  night. 

Before  I  reached  my  animal  whom  should  I  meet 
but  my  old  traveling  companion  John  Rogers  whom  I 
thought  to  be  a  hundred    miles    away    by    this    time. 


386     ,.:  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

We  shook  hands  heartily  and  he  told  me  that  Bennett, 
Moody  and  Skinner  were  camped  not  far  off",  and  he 
was  still  with  them.  He  wore  a  pair  of  blue  overalls, 
a  blue  woolen  shirt  and  the  same  little  narrow  rimmed 
hat  he  had  worn  so  long.  I  observed,  too,  that  he 
was  barefoot,  and  told  him  I  had  a  dollar  or  two  which 
he  could  take  and  get  some  shoes.  He  said  it  was  no 
use  for  there  was  not  a  pair  of  shoes  in  the  town  to 
buy,  and  he  had  not  found  any  material  of  which  he 
could  make  himself  a  pair  of  mocassins.  I  told  him 
how  I  had  been  swindled  coming  up,  and  he  was  about 
as  angry  as  I  had  been.  I  think  if  I  had  known  that 
my  friend  John  Rogers  had  been  so  near  I  should  have 
bidden  the  rascals  an  unceremonious  good-bye  and 
we  would  have  been  able  to  hold  our  own  on  a  claim 
for  the  services  of  myself  and  mule. 

We  went  up  to  the  place  where  our  people  were 
camped,  perhaps  a  mile  above  town  on  the  bank  of  a 
river,  nearly  dry.  but  where  plenty  of  wood,  water 
and  grass  were  at  hand;  such  a  place  as  we  had  looked 
for  in  vain  for  many  a  weary  day  upon  the  desert. 
This  was  as  far  above  Death  Valley  as  a  king  above  a 
pauper,  and  we  hoped  never  to  see  such  a  country 
again . 

In  camp  we  talked  about  moving  on  to  the  mines. 
Rogers  said  he  was  going  to  start  next  day,  and  in 
answer  to  exclamations  of  surprise  that  he  should  start 
off  alone,  he  said  that  some  fellows  camped  a  little 
way  down  the  river  were  going  to  start  and  he  had 
made  arrangements  to  go  with  them,  as  the  Bennett 
party;  would  not  go  yet  for  a  week.  In  the  morning 
he  shook  hands  and  bade  us  good-bye  and  good  luck, 
and  started  off  down  the  river  bank,  lost  to  us,  as  it 
proved,  for  many  years. 

The  next  day  as  we  were  all  sitting  on  the  ground 
I  felt  a  sort  of  moving  of  the  earth  under  me  and  heard 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  387 

■a  rumbling  sound  that  seemed  ver}-  queer.  It  seemed 
there  was  a  motion  also  to  the  trees  around  us.  We 
all  started  and  looked  a  little  frightened,  and  Skinner 
said  he  believed  it  was  an  earthquake,  for  he  said  he 
•could  see  the  motion  in  a  sort  of  wave.  It  was  gone 
in  half  a  minute.  Moody  said: — "How  do  you  like 
California  now?"  I  said  I  thought  this  part  of  it  was 
a  pretty  good  place  for  there  wasplenty  of  wood  water 
and  grass,  and  that  was  better  than  we  had  seen .  in 
some  places. 

He  then  went  on  to  say  that  he  had  heard  Mr.  Ben- 
nett's story  of  their  sufferings  and  narrow  escape  from 
death,  and  it  was  the  most  wonderful  story  he  had 
ever  heard.  He  said  the  idea  of  Mrs.  Bennett  walk- 
ing over  such  a  country  for  twenty-two  days  was  al- 
most beyond  belief,  for  he  would  not  have  thought 
her  able  to  walk  one-third  the  distance.  He  never 
knew  before  how  much  women  could  do  when  they 
were  called  to  do  it,  and  they  proved  in  emergencies 
to  be  as  tough  as  any  body.  He  said  if  he  ever  got 
back  home  he  should  move  to  give  them  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  men  for  siire. 

One  day  I  mounted  my  mule  for  a  ride  to  the  east- 
ern foothills,  and  sat  down  on  a  little  incline  and  over- 
looked the  valley,  a  beautiful  landscape,  while  my 
mule  cropped  the  rich  grasses  in  a  circle  described  by 
the  rope  which  confined  him.  I  was  always  a  great 
admirer  of  nature,  and  as  I  sat  there  alone  I  could  see 
miles  on  miles  of  mammoth  nuistard  waving  in  the 
strong  breeze  which  came  down  over  the  San  Fran- 
cisco Bay  just  visible  to  the  northward,  and  on  the 
mountain  summits  to  the  west  could  see  tall  timber 
reaching  up  into  the  deep  blue  of  the  sky.  It  was  a 
real  contented  comfort  to  be  thus  in  the  midst  of  lux- 
uriance and  beauty,  and  I  enjoyed  it,  coming  as  it  did 
at  the  end  of  the  long  and  dreary  road  I  had  been  trav- 


388  DEATH  VALLEY. 

eling  for  the  past  twelve  months.  Up  the  Platte; 
across  the  Rockies;  down  the  Green  River  canons  in 
my  canoe;  across  the  mountains  to  Salt  Lake;  out  over 
the  "Rim  of  the  Basin,  "  and  across  the  desert,  guided 
only  by  the  fact  that  we  knew  the  Pacific  Ocean  was 
to  the  west  of  us,  and  choosing  our  road  as  best  we 
could  in  view  of  the  lofty,  snow-clad,  impassible 
mountains;  seeing  thirteen  of  our  comrades  lie  down 
never  to  rise  again,  and,  when  hope  and  strength 
were  almost  gone,  to  suddenly  come  out  into  a  fertile 
region  on  the  seventh  of  March,  1850.  How  I  wished 
the  fellows  who  slept  in  Death  Valley  could  have  seen 
this  view.  The  change  from  all  that  barrenness  and 
desolation  to  this  beautiful,  fertile  country,  covered 
with  wild  flowers  and  luxuriant  live  oaks,  was  as 
strong  a  contrast  as  one  could  imagine  a  sudden  com- 
ing from  purgator}'  to  paradise  in  the  spaceof  a  single 
hour. 

I  waked  up  from  my  dreamy  thoughts,  mounted  my 
mule  and  rode  to  camp.  As  I  lode  along  the  nimble 
ground  squirrel,  with  his  keen  black  eye,  would  climb 
to  the  top  of  the  high  mustard  stalks  to  get  a  better 
view  and,  suspicious  of  an  enemy  within  his  almost 
undisputed  territory,  disappear  in  a  wink  to  his  safe 
underground  fortress.  Fat  cattle  and  horses  would 
appear  before  me  a  moment,  and  then,  with  a  wild 
look  and  high  heads,  dash  through  the  tall  mustard 
out  of  sight. 

Next  day  my  trip  was  toward  the  western  hills,  and 
before  I  came  to  them  was  confronted  with  an  exten- 
sive stretch  of  chaparral  brush,  absolutely  impenetra- 
ble, which  I  must  go  around  or  stop  my  progress  in 
this  direction.  These  thickets  were  a  regular  para- 
dise for  grizzly  bears,  for  within  the  protection  of  this 
matted  and  thorny  growth  he  is  as  safe  as  is  the  sol- 
dier in  the  rockv  fort  of  Gibralter.     I    soon    found    a 


DEATH  VALLEY.  389 

way  around  the  brush  and  rose  high  enough  so  that  a 
backward  look  over  the  valley  was  charming,  quite  as 
much  so  as  the  eastern  side.  I  wandered  over  the 
grassy  hills  covered  with  great  scattering  oaks,  and 
came  to  a  grove  of  mammoth  trees,  six  feet  or  more 
in  diameter,  with  tops  reaching  two  hundred  or  three 
hundred  feet  toward  the  blue  sky.  They  seemed  to 
me  to  be  a  kind  of  cedar,  and  were  far  larger  and  taller 
than  any  trees  I  had  ever  seen  in  the  forests  of  Ver- 
mont, Michigan  or  Wisconsin,  and  in  my  long  jour- 
ney from  the  East  the  route  had  been  principally 
through  a  country  devoid  of  good  timber.  A  stranger 
in  a  strange  land,  everything  was  new  and  wondertul. 
After  satisfying  my  inquiring  mind  I  returned  to  camp 
again,  and  soon  learned  that  my  newly  discovered 
trees  were  the  famous  redwoods,  so  greatly  prized  for 
their  valuable  qualities. 

Taking  the  most  direct  course  to  camp  I  came,  when 
within  two  or  three  miles  of  San  Jose,  to  a  large  ex- 
tent of  willows  so  thick,  and  so  thickly  woven  to- 
gether with  wild  blackberry  vines,  \\ild  roses  and 
other  thorny  plants,  that  it  appeared  at  first  as  if  I 
never  could  get  through.  But  I  found  a  winding  trail 
made  by  the  cattle  through  the  bushes  and  mustard, 
and  this  I  followed,  being  nearly  scared  occasionally 
by  some  wild  steers  as  they  rushed  off  through  the 
thickets.  I  got  through  safely,  though  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  escape  a  wild,  enraged  steer,  or  a 
grizzly  had  I  met  him  face  to  face  even  with  a  rifle  in 
hand.  I  could  see  nowhere  but  by  looking  straight 
up,  for  the  willows  were  in  places  fifty  feet  high  and  a 
foot  in  diameter.  The  willows  where  I  came  from 
were  mere  bushes,  and  these  astonished  me.  This 
bit  of  brush  is  still  locally  known  as  "The  Willows," 
but  the  trees  are  all  gone  and  the  ground  thickly  cov- 
ered with  orchards  and  fine  residences,  the  land  sell- 


390  DEATH  VAI^IvEY. 

ing  at  from  one  thousand  to  two  thousand  dollars  per 
acre. 

The  sun  rose  without  a  cloud,  and  a  little  later  the 
sea  breeze  from  the  bay  blew  gentl}^  over  the  valley, 
making  the  climate  perfectly  delightful  in  its  temper- 
ate coolness,  a  true  paradise  on  earth  it  seemed  to  me, 
if  I  was  able  to  judge  or  set  a  value  upon  so  beautiful 
a  spot;  and  surely  I  had  seen  all  sorts,  good  and  poor, 
desert  and  valley,  mountain  and  plain. 

But  I  was  poor  in  purse,  and  resolved  I  would  seek 
first  the  gold  mines  and  secure  gold  enough  to  buy  a 
piece  of  this  valley  afterward. 

When  I  had  seen  what  was  to  be  seen  about  San 
Jose  I  had  a  talk  with  my  friends  and  found  that  Mr. 
Bennett  favored  going  on  to  the  mines  at  once  and 
that  Moody  and  Skinner  thought  they  would  remain 
a  little  while  at  least. 

I  went  along  in  compan}'  with  Bennett,  and  when 
we  got  a  little  way  from  San  Jose,  on  the  road  to  the 
Mission,  the  road  seemed  walled  in  on  both  sides  with 
growing  mustard  ten  or  twelve  feet  high  and  all  in 
blossom.  How  so  much  mustard  could  grow,  and 
grow  so  large,  I  could  not  understand.  I  had  seen  a 
few  plants  in  the  gardens  or  fields  which  people  used 
for  greens,  and  here  seemed  to  be  enough  to  feed  the 
nation,  if  they  liked  mustard  greens. 

The  second  da}'  out  we  passed  the  big  church  at 
Mission  San  Jose  and  soon  left  the  valley  and  turned 
into  the  mountains  and  when  part  wa}-  over  we  came 
to  a  stream  which  we  followed  up  and  came  out  into 
lyivermore  valle}^,  where  we  found  a  road  to  follow. 
Houses  were  scarce,  and  we  camped  a  mile  or  so  be- 
fore we  got  to  the  Livermore  ranch  buildings.  There 
was  very  little  sign  of  life  about  the  place,  and  we  soon 
went  out  of  the  vallej'  and  into  the  mountains  again. 

The  first  sign  of  settlement  we  saw  when  part  way 


DEATH  VATXEY.  391 

through  the  mountains  was  a  stone  corral,  but  no 
house  or  other  improvements.  The  next  place  was  a 
small  house  made  of  willow  poles  set  in  the  ground 
and  plastered  over  with  mud.  This  rejoiced  in  the 
name  of  "Mountain  House. ' '  This  wayside  inn  looked 
like  a  horse  thief's  glory;  only  one  or  two  men,  a 
quarter  of  an  elk  hanging  on  a  pole,  and  no  accmoda- 
tions  for  man  or  beast.  There  was  very  little  water, 
nothing  to  sell  as  well  as  nothing  wanted.  On  the 
summits  of  the  mountains  as  we  passed  through  we 
saw,  standing  like  guards,  many  large  buck  elks. 

It  was  now  fifteen  miles  to  the  San  Joaquin  river, 
and  a  level  plain  lay  before  us.  When  our  road  turned 
into  the  river  bottom  we  found  the  water  too  deep  to 
get  through  safely,  so  we  concluded  to  go  on 
and  try  to  find  some  place  where  we  could  cross.  On 
our  way  droves  of  antelopes  could  be  seen  frolicking 
over  the  broad  plains,  while  in  the  distance  were  herds 
of  elk  winding  their  way  from  the  mountains  towards 
the  river  for  water.  When  far  away  their  horns  were 
the  first  things  visible,  and  they  much  resembled  the 
dry  tops  of  dead  pine  trees,  but  a  nearer  view  showed 
them  to  us  as  the  proud  monarchs  of  the  plain. 

When  we  came  up  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Merced 
river  we  concluded  to  try  again  to  cross.  The  river 
here,  as  below,  was  out  of  its  banks,  and  the  over- 
flowed part  was  quite  wide  which  we  had  to  pass 
through  before  we  could  reach  the  river  proper. 

I  waded  in  ahead  of  the  team  and  sounded  the  depth 
of  the  river  so  as  not  to  get  in  too  deep  water,  and 
avoid  if  possible  such  accidents  as  might  otherwise 
occur.  Sometimes  the  water  was  up  to  the  wagon 
bed  and  it  looked  a  little  doubtful  of  our  getting 
through  in  safety,  but  we  made  it  at  last. 

We  found  a  narrow  strip  of  dry  land  along  the  river 
bank.     A  town  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  San  Joaquin 


392  DEATH  VALLEY. 

river,  just  below  where  the  Merced  river  came  in.  I 
think  this  place  was  called  Merced  City.  This  so- 
called  city  contained  but  one  residence,  a  tent  occu- 
pied by  the  ferryman.  We  crossed  the  sluggish  stream 
and  for  che  privilege  paid  the  ferryman  ten  dollars  for 
toll.  The  road  was  not  much  used  and  the  ferry  bus- 
iness seemed  lonesome. 

Here  we  camped  for  the  night.  The  mosquitoes 
soon  found  us,  and  they  were  all  very  hungry  and 
had  good  teeth.  They  annoyed  me  so  that  I  moved 
my  lodgings  to  the  ferryboat,  but  here  they  quickly 
found  me  and  troubled  me  all  night.  These  insects 
were  the  first  I  had  seen  since  I  left  the  lower  Platte 
river,  and  I  thought  them  as  bad  as  on  the  Mississippi. 

From  here  the  road  led  up  the  Merced  river  near 
the  bottom,  and  as  we  came  near  groves  of  willows, 
big,  stately  elk  would  start  out  and  trot  off  proudly 
into  the  open  plains  to  avoid  danger.  These  proud, 
b)ig-horned  monarchs  of  the  plains  could  be  seen  in 
bunches  scattered  over  the  broad  meadows,  as  well  as 
an  equal  amount  of  antelope.  They  all  seemed  to  fear 
us,  which  was  wise  on  their  part,  and  kept  out  of  rifle 
shot.  As  were  not  starving  as  we  were  once,  I  did 
not  follow  them  out  on  the  open  plain,  for  I  thought  I 
could  get  meat  when  we  were  more  in  need. 

We  followed  up  the  river  bottom  and  saw  not  a  sin- 
gle house  until  we  reached  the  road  leading  from 
Stockton  to  the  Mariposa  mines,  where  we  found  a 
ferry  and  a  small  store.  Here  we  learned  that  some 
men  were  mining  a  few  miles  up  the  river,  so  we  drove 
on  until  we  found  a  little  work  being  done  in  a  dry 
gulch  near  the  river  bank.  "We  made  our  camp  at  this 
spot  and  had  plenty  of  wood,  water  and  grass.  We 
found  there  was  something  to  be  learned  in  the  art  of 
gold  mining.  We  had  no  tools  nor  money,  and  had 
never  seen  a  speck  of  native  gold  and  did  not  know 


DEATH  VALLEY.  393 

"how  to  separate  it  from  the  dirt  nor  where  to  search 
for  it.  We  were  poor,  ignorant  emigrants.  There 
were  two  or  three  men  camped  here.  One  of  them 
was  more  social  than  the  rest  and  we  soon  got  ac- 
quainted. His  name  was  Williams,  from  Missouri. 
He  came  down  to  the  river  v.  ith  a  pan  of  dirt,  and 
seeing  me  in  my  ignorance  .trying  to  wash  some  as 
well,  he  took  the  pan  from  me  and  very  kindly  showed 
me  how  to  work  so  as  to  let  the  dirt  go  and  save  the 
gold.  When  he  had  the  pan  finished  a  few  small, 
bright  scales  remained.  These  to  me  were  curious 
little  follows  and  I  examined  them  closely  and  conclu- 
ded there  was  a  vast  difference  between  gold  and  lead 
niining.  Williams  became  more  friendlj^  and  we  told 
him  something  about  our  journey  across  the  plains, 
and  he  seemed  to  think  that  we  deserved  a  good  claim. 
He  went  to  a  dry  gulch  where  a  Spaniard  was  work- 
ing and  told  him  that  all  of  California,  now  that  the 
war  was  over,  belonged  to  Americans  and  he  must 
leave.  Williams  had  his  gun  in  his  hand  and  war 
might  follow,  so  Mr.  Spaniard  left  and  his  claim  was 
presented  to  Bennett  and  myself. 

Williams  had  been  twice  to  Santa  Fe  from  Missouri 
and  had  learned  the  Spanish  language  and  could  swear 
at  them  by  note  if  necessary.  Wc  now  began  work 
almost  without  tools,  but  our  ground  we  had  to  work 
was  quite  shallow  and  Williams  helped  us  out  by  loan- 
ing us  some  of  his  tools  at  times.  We  soon  succeeded 
in  scratching  together  some  of  the  yellow  stuff  and  I 
went  down  to  the  store  and  bought  a  pan  for  five  dol- 
lars, a  shov^el  for  ten  dollars,  and  a  poor  pick  cost  me 
ten  dollars  more.  This  took  about  two  ounces  of  my 
mone}'. 

We  now  worked  harder  than  ever  for  about  three 
weeks,  but  we  could  not  save  much  and  pay  such 
high  prices  as  were  charged.     Our   gulch    claim    was 


£94  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

soon  worked  out,  and  as  the  river  had  fallen  some  we 
tried  the  bar,  but  we  could  only  make  four  or  five  dol- 
lars a  day,  and  the  gold  was  very  fine  and  hard  to 
save.  We  bought  a  hind  quarter  of  an  elk  and  hung 
it  up  in  a  tree  and  it  kept  fresh  till  all  of  it  was  eaten. 

Some  others  came  and  took  up  claims  on  the  bar, 
and  as  the  prospects  were  not  as  good  as  was  wished, 
three  of  us  concluded  to  go  and  try  to  find  a  better 
place.  The  next  day  was  Sunday  and  all  lay  in  bed 
late.  Before  I  rose  I  felt  something  crawling  on  my 
breast,  and  when  I  looked  I  found  it  to  be  an  insect, 
slow  in  motion,  resembling  a  louse,  but  larger.  He 
was  a  new  emigrant  to  me  and  I  wondered  what  he 
was.  I  now  took  off  my  pants  and  found  many  of  his 
kind  in  the  seams.  I  murdered  all  I  could  find,  and 
when  I  got  up  I  told  Williams  what  I  had  found. 
He  said  they  hurt  nobody  and  were  called  pioj'os, 
more  commonly  known  as  body  lice. 

We  started  on  our  prospecting  tour  and  went  north- 
east to  a  place  now  called  Big  Oak  Flat.  This  was 
at  the  head  of  a  small  stream  and  there  were  several 
small  gulches  that  emptied  into  it  that  paid  well. 
This  flat  was  all  taken  up  and  a  ditch  was  cut  through 
to  drain  it.  A  ship  load  of  gold  was  expected  to  be 
found  when  it  was  worked.  A  small  town  of  tents 
had  been  pitched  on  both  sides  of  the  flat.  One  side 
was  occupied  by  gamblers,  and  many  games  were 
constantly  carried  on  and  were  well  patronized.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  the  flat  were  many  small  tents, 
and  around  on  the  hillside  some  mules  and  jacks  were 
feeding.  One  of  the  little  long-eared  donkeys  came 
down  among  the  tents  and  went  in  one  and  commen- 
ced eating  flour  from  the  sack.  The  owner  of  the 
flour  ran  to  the  tent,  took  his  shot  gun  and  fired  a 
load  of  buck-shot  into  the  donkey's  hams.  The  ani- 
mal  reeled  and  seemed  shot  fatally.     I  now  looked  for 


DEATH  VAI.LEY.  395 

a  battle  to  commence,  but  the  parties  were  more  rea- 
sonable. The  price  of  the  animal  was  fuU}^  paid,  and 
no  blood  shed  as  I  expected  there  surely  would  be. 

We  now  prospected  further  east,  but  nothing  good 
enough  was  found.  The  place  we  looked  over  was 
where  the  town  of  Garota  now  stands.  We  concluded 
to  go  back,  have  a  council,  and  go  somewhere  else. 
On  our  way  back  we  stopped  to  get  dinner.  While  I 
was  around  the  fire,  barefooted,  I  felt  something  crawl 
up  my  instep,  and  it  proved  to  be  another  of  those 
piojos  of  Williams'.  I  now  thought  these  torments 
must  be  all  over  this  country. 

Gold  dust  was  used  to  transact  all  business;  all  the 
coin  was  in  the  hands  of  the  gentlemen  gamblers. 
Most  miners  found  it  necessary  to  have  a  small  pair 
of  scales  in  the  breast  pocket  to  weigh  the  dust  so  as 
not  to  have  to  trust  some  one  who  carried  lead  weights 
and  often  got  more  than  his  just  dues.  Gold  dust  was 
valued  at  .sixteen  dollars  an  ounce. 

We  now  thought  it  would  be  best  for  two  of  us  to 
take  our  mules  and  go  down  in  the  small  hills  and  try 
to  get  some  elk  meat  to  take  with  \\s,  as  our  route 
would  be  mostly  through  the  unsettled  part  of  the 
country,  and  no  provisions  could  likely  be  procured, 
so  Mr.  Bradford  of  New  Orleans  and  myself  took  our 
mules  and  went  down  where  the  hills  were  low  and 
the  game  plenty.  We  camped  in  a  low  ravine,  staked 
out  our  mules  and  staid  all  night  without  a  fire,  believ- 
ing that  when  we  woke  in  the  early  morning  some  of 
the  many  herd  of  elk  then  in  sight  would  be  near  us 
at  daylight,  and  we  could  easily  kill  all  we  wanted 
without  leaving  camp;  but  we  were  disappointed. 
Hundreds  of  the  big-horned  fellows  were  in  sight,  but 
none  in  rifle  shot,  and  there  was  no  chance  for  us  to 
get  any  nearer  to  them.  We  got  near  a  couple  of  an- 
telope and  Mr.  Bradford,  who  was  a    brag   shot   and 


396  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

had  the  best  gun,  proposed  to  kill  them  as  we  stood. 
The  larger  of  the  two  was  on  his  side  and  much  nearer 
than  the  smaller  one,  but  we  fired  together  just  as  we 
stood.  Bradford's  antelope  ran  off  unhurt:  mine  fell 
dead  in  its  tracks.  Bradford  bragged  no  more  about 
his  fine  gun  and  superior  marksmanship. 

We  went  back  to  camp  with  the  little  we  had  killed 
and  soon  got  ready  to  start  noith.  Bennett  was  to  go 
with  his  team  to  Sacramento  and  wait  there  until  he 
heard  from  us. 

Four  of  us,  mounted  on  mules,  now  started  on  our 
journey  along  the  foothills  without  a  road.  We  struck 
the  Tuolumne  river  at  a  ferry.  The  stream  was  high 
and  rapid  and  could  not  be  forded,  so  we  had  to  pat- 
ronize the  ferryman,  and  give  him  half  an  ounce  apiece. 
We  thought  such  charges  on  poor  and  almost  penni- 
less emigrants  were  unjust. 

The  point  we  were  seeking  to  reach  was  a  new  dis- 
covery called  Gold  I^ake  on  Feather  River,  where 
man)^  rich  gulches  that  emptied  into  it  had  been 
worked,  and  the  lake  was  believed  to  have  at  least  a 
ship  load  of  gold  in  it.  It  was  located  high  in  the 
mountains  and  could  be  easily  drained  and  a  fortune 
soon  obtained  if  we  got  there  in  time  and  said  nothing 
to  anyone  we  might  meet  on  the  road.  We  might 
succeed  in  getting  a  claim  before  they  were  all  taken 
up.  We  followed  along  the  foothills  without  a  road, 
and  when  we  came  to  the  Stanislaus  River  we  had  to 
patronize  a  ferry  and  pay  half  an  ounce  each  again. 
We  thought  their  scale  w'eights  were  rather  heavy 
and  their  ferrymen  well  paid. 

We  continued  along  the  foothills  without  any  trail 
until  we  struck  the  road  from  Sacramento  to  Hang- 
town,  This  sounded  like  a  bad  name  for  a  good  vil- 
lage, but  we  found  it  was  fittingly  named  after  some 
ugly  devils  who  were  hanged  there.     The  first  house 


DEATH  VAT.LEY.  397 

tlhat  we  came  to  on  this  road  was  the  Mormon  Tavern. 
Here  were  some  men  playing  cards  for  money,  and 
two  boys,  twelve  or  fourteen  years  old,  playing  poker 
for  the  same  and  trying  in  every  way  to  ape  the  older 
gamblers  and  bet  their  money  as  freely  and  swear  as 
loud  as  the  old  sports.  All  I  saw  was  new  and  strange 
to  me  and  became  indelibly  fixed  on  my  mind.  I  had 
never  before  seen  such  wicked  boys,  and  the  men  paid 
no  attention  to  these  fast  American  boys.  I  began  to 
wonder  if  all  the  people  in  California  were  like  these, 
bad  and  wicked. 

Here  we  learned  that  Gold  Lake  was  not  as  rich  as 
reported,  so  we  concluded  to  take  the  road  and  go  to 
Coloma,  the  place  where  gold  was  first  found  on  the 
American  River. 

We  camped  at  Coloma  all  night.  Mr.  Bradford  got 
his  mule  shod  and  paid  sixteen  dollars,  or  in  the  min- 
ing phrase,  an  ounce  of  gold  dust.  I  visited  the  small 
town  and  found  that  the  only  lively  business  place  in 
it  was  a  large  gambling  house,  and  I  saw  money  (gold 
dust)  liberally  used — sometimes  hundreds  of  dollars 
bet  on  a  single  card.  When  a  few  hundred  or  thous- 
and were  lost  more  would  be  brought  on.  The  purse 
would  be  set  in  the  center  of  the  table  and  the  owners 
would  take  perhaps  twenty  silver  dollars  or  checks, 
and  when  they  were  lost  the  deposited  purse  would 
be  handed  to  the  barkeeper,  the  amount  weighed  out 
and  the  purse  returned.  When  the  purse  was  empty 
a  friend  of  the  better  would  bring  another,  and  so  the 
game  went  on  almost  in  silence.  The  game  called 
Monte  seemed  to  be  the  favorite.  How  long  these 
sacks  of  gold  lasted  or  who  eventually  got  the  whole 
I  never  knew.  This  was  a  new  country  with  new 
people,  and  many  seemed  to  be  engaged  in  a  business 
that  was  new,  strange  and  hazardous.  The  final  re- 
sult of  all  this  was  what  puzzled  me. 


398  DEATH  VALLEY. 

We  now  followed  the  road  up  the  mountain  to 
Georgetown.  Here  was  a  small  village  on  the  sum- 
mit of  the  ridge  and  it  seemed  to  be  in  a  prosperous 
mining  section.  After  some  inquiry  about  a  good 
place  to  work  we  concluded  to  go  down  a  couple  of 
miles  northeast  of  town  on  Canon  creek  and  go  to 
work  if  vacant  ground  could  be  found.  There  was  a 
piece  of  creek  bottom  here  that  had  not  been  much 
worked.  Georgia  Flat  above  had  been  worked  and 
paid  well,  and  the  Illinois  and  Oregon  caiions  that 
emptied  into  the  bottom  here  were  rich,  so  we  conclu- 
ded to  locate  in  the  bottom.  Claims  here  in  the  flat 
were  only  fifteen  feet  square.  I  located  one  and  my 
notice  told  others  that  I  would  go  to  work  on  it  as 
soon  my  partner  came  from  Sacramento.  I  sent  my 
partner,  Mr.  Bennett  a  note  telling  him  to  come  up. 

While  waiting  for  Mr.  Bennett  I  took  my  pan  and 
butcher  knife  and  went  into  a  dry  gulch  out  of  sight 
of  the  other  campers  and  began  work.  As  the  ground 
was  mostly  bare  bed  rock  bj'  scratching  around  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  three  or  four  pans  of  dirt  a  day. 
The  few  days  I  had  to  wait  for  Bennett  I  made  eight 
dollars  a  daj'  until  my  claim  was  worked  out. 

I  then  went  to  Georgetown  to  meet  Bennett  and 
famih^  and  soon  after  my  arrival  they  came  well  and 
safe.  All  of  them,  even  to  the  faithful  camp  dog,  Cuff, 
were  glad  to  see  me.  Old  Cuff  foljowed  me  all  around 
town,  but  when  we  got  ready  to  start  for  camp  the 
dog  was  gone  and  could  not  be  found.  Some  one  had 
hidden  him  away  knowing  he  could  not  be  gotten  any 
other  way,  for  six  ounces  would  not  have  bought  him. 
We  had  raised  him  in  Wisconsin,  made  him  a  good 
deer  dog,  and  with  us  he  had  crossed  the  dry  and 
sandy  deserts.  He  had  been  a  great  protection  to 
Bennett's  children  on  the  plains,  and  company  for  us 
all. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  399 

We  now  located  claims  on  the  creek  bottom.  The 
channel  of  the  creek  was  claimed  by  Holman  of  Ala- 
bama and  the  Helms  brothers  of  Missouri.  They  had 
turned  the  stream  into  a  ditch  in  order  to  work  the  bed 
of  the  stream,  believing  that  their  claims  had  all  the 
gold  in  them.     Our  claims  joined  theirs. 

Mr.  W.  M.  Stockton,  who  left  his  family  in  Los 
Angeles,  came  with  Mr.  Btnnett  and  went  to  work 
with  us.  As  everything  here  was  very  high  we  con- 
cluded to  let  Mr.  Stockton  take  the  team  and  go  to 
Sacramento  for  provisions  for  our  own  use.  Flour 
and  meat  were  each  fifty  cents  a  pound,  potatoes 
twenty-five  cents  a  pound  and  onions  on^  dollar  and 
twenty-five  cents  each.  Onions  and  potatoes  eaten 
raw  were  considered  very  necessary  to  prevent  and 
cure  scurvy,  which  was  quite  a  common  complaint. 
Whiskey,  if  not  watered,  cost  one  dollar  a  drink. 

Our  claims  were  about  ten  feet  deep.  The  bottom 
was  wet  and  a  pump  needed,  so  we  went  to  a  whip 
saw-mill  and  got  four  narrow  strips  one  by  three 
and  one  by  five  and  twelve  feet  long,  paying  for  them 
by  weight,  the  price  being  twelve  cents  a  pound. 
Out  of  these  strips  we  made  a  good  pump  by  fixing  a 
valve  at  the  end  and  .lailing  a  piece  of  green  rawhide 
on  a  pole,  which  answered  for  a  plunger,  and  with  the 
pump  set  at  forty-five  degrees  it  worked  easily  and 
well.  One  man  coiild  easily  keep  the  water  out  and 
we  made  fair  wages. 

In  the  creek  bottom  Mr.  Bush  of  Missouri  had  a  sa- 
loon. The  building  was  made  mainly  of  brush,  with 
a  split  piece  for  a  counter,  and  another  one  for  a  shelf 
for  his  whiskey  keg,  a  box  of  cigars,  a  few  decks  of 
cards  and  half  a  dozen  glasses,  which  made  up  the  en- 
tire stock  of  trade  for  the  shop.  In  front  was  a  table 
made  of  two  puncheons  with  a  blanket  thrown  over 
all,  and  a  few  rough  seats  around.     There  was  no  roof 


400  DEATH  VAI.I.EY. 

except  the  brush,  and  through  the  dry    season   none 
was  needed  except  for  shade. 

There  was  also  at  this  place  five  l)rothers  by  the 
name  of  Helms,  also  from  Missouri.  Their  names 
were  Jim,  Davenport,  Wade,  Chet  and  Daunt.  These 
men,  with  Mr.  Holman,  owned  the  bed  of  the  stream, 
and  their  ground  proved  to  be  quite  wet  and  disagree- 
able to  work.  Mr.  Holman  could  not  well  stand  to 
work  in  the  cold  water,  so  he  asked  the  privilege  of 
putting  in  a  hired  man  in  his  place,  which  was  agreed 
to.  He  then  took  up  a  claim  for  himself  outside  of 
the  other  claims,  and  this  proved  to  be  on  higher  bed 
rock  and  dry,  and  paid  even  better  than  the  low  claims 
where  the  Helms  brothers  were  at  work.  This  was 
not  what  the  Helms  boys  considered  exactly  fair,  as 
Holman  seemed  to  be  getting  rich  the  fastest,  and  as 
there  was  no  law  to  govern  them  they  held  a  free 
country  court  of  their  own,  and  decided  the  case  to 
suit  themselves;  so  they  ordered  Holman  to  come  back 
and  do  his  own  work.  No  fault  was  found  with  the 
hired  man  but  what  he  did  his  work  well  enough,  but 
they  were  jealous  and  would  not  be  bound  by  their 
agreement. 

But  this  decision  did  not  satisfy  all  parties,  and  it 
was  agreed  to  submit  the  case  to  three  men,  and  I 
was  chosen  one  of  them.  We  held  Court  on  the 
ground  and  heard  both  sides  of  the  story,  after  which 
we  retired  to  the  shade  of  a  bunch  of  willows  to  hold 
council  over  the  matter  with  the  result  that  we  soon 
came  to  a  decision  in  favor  of  Mr.  Holman.  About 
this  time  on-e  of  the  Helms  boys  began  to  quarrel  with 
Holman  and  grew  terribly  mad,  swearing  all  kinds  of 
vengeance,  and  making  the  canon  ring  with  the  loud- 
est kind  of  Missouri  oaths.  Finally  he  picked  up  a 
rock  to  kill  Holman,  but  the  latter  was  quick  with  his 
pistol,  a  single  shot  duelling  piece,  end  as  they  were 


DEATH  VALLEY.  401 

not  more  than  ten  feet  apart  Helms  would  have  had  a 
hole  in  him  large  enough  for  daylight  to  shine  through 
if  the  pistol  had  not  missed  fire.  We  stopped  the 
quarrel  and  made  known  our  decision,  whereupon 
Helms  went  off  muttering  vengeance. 

We  now  went  back  to  our  work  again  at  our  claims, 
mine  being  between  Helms'  cabin  and  the  saloon. 
Holman  stopped  to  talk  a  little  while  on  my  claim, 
while  I  was  down  below  at  work,  and  soon  Helms 
came  back  again  in  a  terrible  rage,  stopping  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  hole  from  Holman,  swearing  long 
and  loud,  and  flourishing  a  big  pistol  with  which  he 
threatened  to  blow  Holman  into  purgatory.  He  was 
so  much  enraged  that  he  fairly  frothed  at  the  mouth 
like  a  rabid  dog.  The  men  were  about  twenty  feet 
apart,  and  I  at  the  bottom  of  the  h^le  ten  feet  below, 
but  exactly  between  them.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I 
was  in  some  little  danger  for  Helms  had  his  big  pistol 
at  full  cock,  and  as  it  pointed  at  me  quite  as  often  as 
it  did  at  anybody,  I  expect  I  dodged  around  a  little  to 
keep  out  of  range.  Helms  was  terribly  nervous,  and 
trembled  as  he  cursed,  but  Holman  was  cool  and  drew 
his  weapon  deliberately,  daring  Helms  to  raise  his 
hand  or  he  would  kill  him  on  the  instant.  Helms 
now  began  to  back  off,  but  carefully  kept  his  eye  on 
Holman  and  continued  his  abuse  as  he  went  on  to  the 
saloon  to  get  something  to  replenish  his  courage. 
Holman,  during  the  whole  affair,  talked  very  calmly 
and  put  considerable  emphasis  into  his  words  when  he 
dared  Helms  to  make  a  hostile  motion.  He  was  a  true 
Alabamian  and  could  be  neither  scared  noi"  driven. 
He  soon  sold  out,  however,  and  went  to  a  more  con- 
genial camp  for  he  said  these  people  were  cowardly 
enough  to  waylay  and  kill  him  unawares. 

Soon  after  this  unpleasantness  a  man  and  wife  who 
lived  in  Georgetown  came  into  notice,  and  while  the 


402  DEATH  VALLEY 

man  made  some  money  mining  his  wife  did  a  good 
stroke  of  business  washing  for  the  boys  who  paid  her 
a  dollar  a  shirt  as  laundry  fees.  As  she  began  to  make 
considerable  money  the  bigger,  if  not  better,  half  of 
this  couple  began  to  feel  quite  rich  and  went  off  on  a 
drunk,  and  when  his  own  money  was  spent  he  went 
to  his  wife  for  more,  but  she  refused  him,  and  he,  in 
his  drunken  rage,  picked  up  a  gun  near  by  and  shot 
her  dead. 

All  of  a  sudden  the  Helms  boys  and  others  gathered 
at  the  saloon,  took  drinks  all  around,  and  did  a  good 
deal  of  swearing,  which  was  the  biggest  portion  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  meeting;  and  then  they  all 
started  off  toward  town,  swearing  and  yelling  as  they 
struggled  up  the  steep  mountain  side — a  pack  of  reck- 
less, back-woods  Missourians  who  seemed  to  smell 
something  blood}' . 

It  was  near  night  when  they  all  came  back  and 
gathered  around  the  saloon  again.  They  were  all  in 
unusual  good  humor  as  they  related  the  adventures  of 
the  afternoon,  and  bragged  of  their  bravery  and  skill 
in  performing  the  little  job  they  had  just  completed, 
which  consisted  in  taking  the  murderer  out  to  the 
first  convenient  oak  tree,  and  with  the  assistance  of 
some  sailors  in  handling  the  ropes,  hoisting  the  fellow 
from  the  ground  with  a  noose  around  his  neck,  and  to 
the  "Heave,  yo  heave"  of  the  sailor  boys,  pulling  the 
rope  that  bad  been  passed  over  an  elevated  limb. 
They  watched  the  suspended  body  till  the  last  spark 
of  life  went  out,  and  then  went  back  to  town  leaving 
the  corpse  hanging  for  somebody  else  to  cut  down  and 
bury.  They  whooped  and  yelled  at  the  top  of  their 
voices  as  they  came  down  along  the  mountain  trail, 
and  at  the  saloon  they  related  to  the  crowd  that  had 

gathered  there  how  they  had  helped  to  hang  the 

who  had  killed  his  wife.     They  said  justice  must 


DEATH  VALLEY.  403 

be  done  if  there  was  no  law,  and  that  no  man  could 
kill  a  woman  and  live  in  California.  They  imagined 
they  were  very  important  individuals,  and  veritable 
lords  of  Creation. 

These  miners,  many  of  them,  were  inveterate  gam- 
blers and  played  every  night  till  near  day-light,  with 
no  roof  over  them,  and  their  only  clothes  a  woolen 
shirt  and  overalls  which  must  have  been  a  little  scanty 
in  the  cool  nights  which  settled  down  over  the  mount- 
ain camp;  but  they  bore  it  all  in  their  great  desire  for 
card  playing. 

Near  by  there  were  three  men  who  worked  and 
slept  together,  every  night  dividing  the  dust  which 
each  put  into  a  purse  at  the  head  of  his  bed.  One  day 
the  news  came  to  the  saloon  that  one  of  the  purses 
had  been  stolen.  The  Helms  boys  talked  it  over  and 
concluded  that  as  one  of  the  men  had  gone  to  town,  he 
might  know  something  about  the  lost  dust;  so  they 
went  to  town  and  there,  after  a  little  search,  found 
their  man  in  a  gambling  house.  After  a  little  while 
they  invited  him  to  return  to  camp  wich  them,  and  all 
started  together  down  the  mountain;  but  when  about 
half  way  down  they  halted  suddenly  under  an  oak 
tree  and  accused  their  man  of  knowing  where  his  part- 
ner's money  was.  This  he  strongly  denied,  and  was 
very  positive  in  his  denial  till  he  felt  the  surprise  of  a 
rope  around  his  neck,  with  the  end  over  a  limb,  and 
beginning  to  haul  pretty  taut  in  a  direction  that  would 
soon  elevate  his  body  from  the  ground,  when  he  weak- 
ened at  their  earnestness  and  asked  them  to  hold  on  a 
minute.  As  the  rope  slackened  he  owned  up  he  had 
the  dust  and  would  give  it  up  if  they  would  not  send 
the  news  to  his  folks  in  Missouri.  This  was  agreed 
to  and  the  thief  was  advised  to  leave  at  once  for  some 
distant  camp,  or  they  might  yet  expose  him.  He  was 
not  seen  afterward. 


404  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

The  boys  bragged  a  good  deal  of  their  detective  abil- 
ity after  this,  and  said  that  a  little  hanging  would 
make  a  —  thief  tell  the  truth  even  if  it  did  not  make  an 
honest  man  of  him,  and  that  a  thief  would  be  lucky  if 
he  got  through  with  them  and  saved  his  life.  Their 
law  was  "Hanging  for  stealing.  " 

The  Helms  brothers  were  said  to  be  from  western 
Missouri,  and  in  early  days  were  somewhat  of  the  bor- 
der ruffian  order,  and  of  course  preferred  to  live  on  the 
frontier  rather  than  in  any  well  regulated  society.  As 
the  country  became  settled  and  improved  around  them 
they  moved  on.  A  school  house  was  an  indication 
that  the  country  was  getting  too  far  advanced  for 
them. 

They  crossed  the  plains  in  1849  and  began  mining 
operations  near  Georgetown  in  Placer  county.  It  was 
well  known  that  they  were  foremost  in  all  gambling, 
and  in  taking  a  hand  in  any  excitement  that  came  up, 
and  as  a  better  class  of  miners  came  in  they  moved  on, 
keeping  ahead  with  the  prospectors,  and  just  out  of 
reach  of  law  and  order.  If  anyone  else  committed  a 
crime  they  were  always  quite  eager  to  be  on  the  vig- 
ilance committee,  and  were  remarkably  happ^^  when 
punishing  a  wrong-doer.  When  any  of  their  number 
was  suspected  it  was  generally  the  case  that  they 
moved  quickly  on  and  so  escaped.  It  was  reported, 
however,  that  one  of  their  number  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  vigilance  committee  and  hanged  in  Montana. 

Aftei  a  time,  it  is  said,  they  went  down  to  southern 
California  and  settled  on  the  border  of  the  Colorado 
desert,  about,  seventy-five  miles  east  of  San  Diego,  in 
a  mountainous  and  desert  region.  Here  they  found  a 
small  tribe  of  Indians,  and  by  each  marrying  a  squaw 
they  secured  rights  equal  to  any  of  them  in  the  occu- 
pation of  the  land.  This  was  considered  pretty  sharp 
practice,  but  it  suited  them  and  they  became  big  chiefs 


DEATH  VALLEY.  405 

and  midecine  men,  and  numerous  dusky  descendants 
grew  up  around  them. 

It  is  said  that  their  property  consists  of  extensive 
pasture  lands  on  which  they  raise  cattle,  and  that  they 
always  go  well  armed  with  pistol,  rifle  and  riata.  It 
is  said  that  some  of  the  Indians  undertook  to  claim 
that  the  Helms  brothers  were  intruders,  but  that  in 
some  mysterious  way  accidents  happened  to  most  of 
them  and  the}'  were  left  without  any  serious  opposi- 
tion. 

They  are  very  hospitable  and  entertaining  to  people 
who  visit  them,  provided  they  do  not  know  too  much 
about  the  men  or  their  former  deeds  or  history.  In 
this  case  ignorance  is  bliss  and  it  is  folly,  if  not  dan- 
gerous, to  be  too  wise.  They  have  made  no  improve- 
ments, but  live  in  about  the  same  style  as  the  Indians 
and  about  on  a  level  with  them  morally  and  intellect- 
ually. 

There  may  be  those  who  know  them  well,  but  the 
writer  onl}^  knows  them  by  hearsay  and  introduces 
them  as  a  certain  type  of  character  found  in  the  early 
days. 

As  I  was  now  about  barefoot  I  went  to  town  to  look 
for  boots  or  shoes.  There  were  no  shoes,  and  a  pair 
of  the  cheapest  boots  I  found  hanging  at  the  door 
were  priced  to  me  at  two  ounces.  This  seemed  a 
wonderful  sum  for  a  pair  of  coarse  cow-hide  boots  that 
would  sell  in  the  state  for  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents; 
but  I  had  to  buy  them  at  the  price  or  go  barefoot. 

While  rambling  around  town  I  went  into  a  round 
tent  used  as  a  gambling  saloon.  The  occupants  were 
mostly  men,  and  one  or  two  nice  appearing  ladies,  but 
perhaps  of  doubtful  reputation.  The  men  were  of  all 
classes — lawyer,  doctors,  preachers  and  such  others  as 
wanted  to  make  money  without  work.  The  miners, 
especially  sailors,  were  eager  to  try  to  beat  the  games. 


4o6  DEATH  VALLEY. 

While  I  was  here  the  table  was  only  occupied  by  a 
sailor  lying  upon  it  and  covered  with  a  green  blanket. 
All  at  once  the  fellow  noticed  a  large  piojo  walking 
.slowly  across  the  table,  and  drawing  his  sheath  knife 
made  a  desperate  stab  at  him,  saying  "You  kind  of  a 
deck  hand  can't  play  at  this  game." 

Our  claims,  by  this  time,  were  nearly  worked  out, 
and  I  thought  that  I  had  upward  of  two  thousand 
dollars  in  gold,  and  the  pile  looked  pretty  big  to  me. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  these  mines  were  very  shallow 
and  would  soon  be  worked  out,  at  least  in  a  year  or 
two.  I  could  not  see  that  the  land  would  be  good  for 
much  for  farming  when  no  irrigation  could  be  easily 
got,  and  the  Spanish  people  seemed  to  own  all  the  best 
land  as  well  as  the  water;  so  that  a  poor  fellow  like 
myself  would  never  get  rich  at  farming  here. 

Seeing  the  matter  in  this  light  I  thought  it  would 
be  best  to  take  my  money  and  go  back  to  Wisconsin 
where  government  land  was  good  and  plenty^,  and  with 
even  my  little  pile  I  could  soon  be  master  of  a  good 
farm  in  a  healthy  country,  and  I  would  there  be  rich 
enough.  Thus  reasoning  I  decided  to  return  to  Wis- 
consin, for  I  could  not  see  how  a  man  could  ever  be  a 
successful  farmer  in  a  country  where  there  were  only 
two  seasons,  one  wet  and  the  other  long  and  dry. 

I  went  out  and  hunted  up  my  mule  which  I  had 
turned  out  to  pasture  for  herself,  and  found  her  en- 
tirely alone.  After  a  little  coaxing  I  caught  her  and 
brought  her  with  me  to  camp,  where  I  offered  her  for 
sale.  She  was  sleek  and  fat  and  looked  so  well  that 
Helms  said  that  if  I  could  beat  him  shooting  he  would 
buy  both  mule  and  gun;  so  three  or  four  of  us  tried 
our  skill.  My  opponents  boasted  a  good  deal  of  their 
superior  marksmanship,  but  on  the  trial,  which  began 
at  short  range,  I  beat  them  all  pretty  badly.  Helms 
was  as  good  as  his  word  and  offered  me  twelve  ounces 


DEATH  VALLEY  407 

for  my  gun  and  mule,  which  I  took,  I  thought  a 
great  deal  of  my  fat  little  one-eyed  mule,  and  I  thought 
then,  as  I  think  now,  how  well  she  did  her  part  on 
the  fearful  road  to  and  from  Death  Valley. 

Helms  was  now  going  to  the  valley  to  have  a  win- 
ter's hunt,  for  here  the  snow  w^ould  fall  four  feet  deep 
and  no  mining  work  could  be  done  till  spring,  when 
he  would  return  and  work  his  claim  again. 

I  now  had  all  in  my  pocket,  and  when  I  got  ready 
to  go  Mrs.  Bennett  was  much  affected  at  knowing  that 
I  would  now  leave  them,  perhaps  never  to  return  to 
them  again.  She  clasped  me  in  her  arms,  embraced 
me  as  she  would  her  own  son,  and  said  "Good  luck 
to  you — God  bless  you,  for  I  know  that  you  saved  all 
our  lives.  I  don't  suppose  ^-ou  will  ever  come  back, 
but  we  may  come  back  to  Wisconsin  sometime  and 
we  will  try  to  find  a  better  road  than  the  one  we  came 
over.  Give  my  best  regards  to  all  who  inquire  after 
us."  She  shook  my  hand  again  and  again  with  earnest 
pressure,  and  cried  and  sobbed  bitterly.  As  I  climbed 
the  mountain  she  stood  and  watched  me  so  long 
as  I  was  in  sight,  and  with  her  handkerchief  waved  a 
final  adieu.  I  was  myself  much  affected  at  this  part- 
ing, for  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  had  been  really  a 
home  to  me;  she  had  been  to  me  as  a  mother,  and  it 
was  like  leaving  a  home  fireside  to  go  away  from 
them.  I  was  now  starting  out  among  strangers,  and 
those  I  should  meet  might  be  the  same  good  friends  as 
those  whom  I  had  left  behind.  Mr.  Bennett  and  I 
had  for  many  5ears  been  hunting  compatiions;  I  had 
lived  at  his  house  in  the  East,  and  we  never  disagreed 
but  had  always  been  good  friends.  I  had  now  a  trav- 
eling companion  whose  home  was  in  Iowa  Co.,  Wis., 
where  I  had  lived  for  several  years,  and  we  went 
along  together  by  wa}-  of  Greenwood  where  there  was 
a  small  mining  town  built  of  tents,   many  of  which 


4o8  DEATH  VALLEY. 

were  used  as  gambling  places.  These  places  were  oc- 
cupied by  gentlemen,  some  of  whom  wore  white  shirts 
to  distinguish  them,  I  presume,  from  the  common 
herd  of  miners  from  whom  they  won  their  dust. 

We  crossed  the  American  River  at  Salmon  Falls, 
and  walked  thence  on  to  Sacramento  City,  which  was 
the  largest  town  we  had  seen  on  the  coast.  The 
houses  were  all  small  wooden  ones,  but  business 
seemed  to  be  brisk,  and  whiskey  shops  and  gambling 
houses  plenty.  One  game  played  with  three  cards, 
called  three  card  Monte,  was  played  openly  on  the 
streets,  with  goods  boxes  for  tables.  Every  one  who 
came  along  was  urged  to  bel  by  the  dealer  who  would 
lay  out  his  cards  face  up  so  all  could  see  them,  then 
turn  them  over  and  shuffle  them  and  say  "I'll  bet  six 
ounces  that  no  one  can  put  his  finger  on  the  queen. ' ' 
I  watched  this  a  while  and  saw  that  the  dealer  won 
much  oftener  than  he  lost,  and  it  seemed  to  be  a  sim- 
ple and  easy  way  to  make  a  living  when  money  was 

plenty. 

We  strolled  around  town  looking  at  the  sights,  and 
the  difierent  business  places,  the  most  lively  of  which 
had  plenty  of  music  inside,  lots  of  tables  with  plenty 
of  money  on  them,  and  many  questionable  lady  occu- 
pants. These  business  places  were  liberally  patron- 
ized and  every  department  flourishing,  especially  the 
bar.  Oaths  and  vulgar  language  were  the  favorite 
style  of  speech,  and  very  many  of  the  people  had  all 
the  whiskey  down  them  that  they  could  conveniently 
carry. 

We  got  through  the  town  safely  and  at  the  river  we 
found  a  steamboat  bound  for  San  Francisco  and  the 
fare  was  two  ounces.  The  runners  were  calling  loudly 
for  passengers,  and  we  were  told  we  could  never  make 
the  trip  any  cheaper  for  they  had  received  a  telegram 
from  below  saying  that  no  boat  would  come  up  again 


DEATH  \^AIvLEY.  40 

for  two  days.  I  said  to  him  "I  can't  see  your  tele- 
gram. Where  is  it?"  At  this  he  turned  and  left  us. 
He  had  thought,  no  doubt,  that  miners  were  green 
enough  to  believe  anything.  In  the  course  of  an  hour 
the  smoke  of  a  steamer  was  seen  down  the  river,  and 
this  beat  out  the  runners  who  now  offered  passage  for 
half  an  ounce. 

At  this  time  there  was  no  telegraph  and  the  delay 
was  a  lucky  one  for  us.  We  took  passage  and  went 
to  San  Francisco  that  night,  where  we  put  up  at  a 
cheap  tavern  near  where  the  Custom  House  now 
stands. 

Here  we  learned  that  we  would  have  to  wait  two 
da5'S  before  a  ship  would  sail  for  Panama,  and  during 
this  time  we  survej^ed  the  town  from  the  hill-tops  and 
walked  all  over  the  principal  streets.  It  was  really  a 
small,  poorly  built,  dirty  looking  place,  with  few 
wharves,  poor,  cheap  hotels,  and  very  rough  inhabit- 
ants. There  were  lots  of  gambling  houses  full  of  ta- 
bles holding  monej',  and  the  rooms  filled  with  prett}" 
rough  looking  people,  except  the  card  dealers,  most  of 
whom  wore  white  shirts,  and  a  few  sported  plug  hats. 
There  was  also  a  "right  smart  sprinkling"  of  ladies 
present  who  were  well  dressed  and  adorned  with  rich 
jewelry,  and  their  position  seemed  to  be  that  of  pay- 
ing teller  at  the  gambling  tables. 

The  buildings  seemed  to  be  rather  cheap,  although 
material  was  very  expensive,  as  well  as  labor,  mechan- 
ics of  all  sorts  getting  as  much  as  ten  or  twelve  dollars 
per  day  for  work.  Coin  seemed  to  be  scarce,  and  a 
great  deal  of  the  money  needed  on  the  gambling  tables 
was  represented  by  iron  washers,  each  of  which  repre- 
sented an  ounce  of  gold. 

I  noticed  some  places  in  the  streets  where  it  was 
muddy  and  a  narrow  walk  had  been  made  out  of  boxes 
of  tobacco,  and  sometimes  even  bacon  was  used  for 


4IO  DEATH  VALLEY. 

the  same  purpose.  Transportation  from  the  city  to 
the  mines  was  very  slow  and  made  by  schooner.  Ship 
loads  of  merchandise  had  arrived  and  been  unloaded, 
and  the  sailors  having  run  away  to  the  mines,  every- 
thing except  whiskey  and  cards  was  neglected.  Whis- 
key sold  at  this  place  for  fifty  cents  a  drink. 

A  man  at  the  tavern  where  we  stopped  tried  hard  to 
sell  me  a  fifty- vara  lot  there  in  the  edge  of  the  mud 
(near  where  the  Custom  House  now  stands)  for  six 
hundred  dollars.  I  thought  this  a  pretty  high  price 
and  besides  such  a  lot  was  no  use  to  me,  for  I  had 
never  lived  in  town  and  could  not  so  easily  see  the 
uses  to  which  such  property  could  be  put.  It  seemed 
very  doubtful  to  me  that  this  place  would  ever  be 
much  larger  or  amount  to  much,  for  it  evidently  de- 
pended on  the  mines  for  a  support,  and  these  were  so 
shallow  that  it  looked  as  if  they  would  be  worked  out 
in  a  short  time  and  the  country  and  town  both  be  de- 
serted. And  I  was  not  alone  in  thinking  that  the 
country  would  soon  be  deserted,  for  accustomed  as  we 
all  had  been  to  a  showery  summer,  these  dry  seasons 
would  seem  entirely  to  prevent  extensive  farming. 
Some  cursed  the  country  and  said  they  were  on  their 
way  to  "good  old  Missouri,  God's  own  country." 
Hearing  so  much  I  concluded  it  would  be  wise  not  to 
invest,  but  to  get  me  back  to  Wisconsin  again. 

The  steamer  we  took  passage  in  was  the  Northener, 
advertised  to  sail  on  the  twenty  ninth  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1850.  The  cabin  room  was  all  engaged,  and  they 
charged  us  nine  ounces  for  steerage  passage;  but  I  did 
not  care  as  .much  about  their  good  rooms  and  clean 
sheets  as  I  would  have  done  at  one  time,  for  I  had 
been  a  long  time  without  either  and  did  not  care  to 
pay  the  difference.  When  we  were  at  the  ship's  office 
we  had  to  take  our  turns  to  get  tickets.  One  man 
weighed  out  the  dust,  and  another  filled   out   certifi- 


DEATH  VALI.EY.  411 

cates.  When  the  callers  began  to  get  a  little  scarce  I 
looked  under  the  counter  where  I  saw  a  whole  panful 
of  dust  to  which  they  added  mine  to  make  the  pile  a 
little  higher.  They  gave  out  no  berths  with  these 
tickets,  but  such  little  things  as  that  did  not  trouble 
us  in  the  least.  It  was  far  better  fare  than  we  used 
to  have  in  and  about  Death  Valley,  and  w^e  thought 
we  could  live  through  anything  that  promised  better 
than  the  desert. 

The  passenger  list  footed  up  four  hundred  and  forty, 
and  when  all  got  on  board,  at  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  there  was  hardly  room  for  all  to  stand  up 
comfortably.  It  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  very  much 
over-crowded  boat  in  which  to  put  to  sea,  but  we 
floated  out  into  the  current,  with  all  the  faces  toward 
the  shore,  and  hats  and  handkerchiefs  waving  good- 
bye to  those  who  had  come  down  to  see  the  home-goers 
safely  off. 

As  we  passed  out  through  the  wonderful  Golden 
Gate  and  the  out  going  current  met  the  solid  sea,  each 
seemed  wrestling  for  the  mastery,  and  the  waves  beat 
and  dashed  themselves  into  foam  all  around  us,  while 
the  spray  came  over  the  bows  quite  lively,  frightening 
some  who  did  not  expect  such  treatment.  When  we 
had  passed  this  scene  of  watery  commotion  and  got 
out  into  the  deeper  water,  the  sea  smoothed  down  a 
great  deal;  but  sea-sickness  began  to  claim  its  victims, 
at  first  a  few,  then  more  and  more,  till  the  greater 
part  were  quite  badlj^  affected.  I  had  a  touch  of  it 
myself,  but  managed  to  keep  my  feet  by  bracing  out 
pretty  wide,  and  hugging  everything  I  could  get  hold 
of  that  seemed  to  offer  a  steady  support,  and  I  did  not 
lie  down  until  after  I  had  thrown  my  breakfast  over- 
board. 

By  the  time  dark  came  nearly  every  one  was  on  his 
back,  mostly  on  deck,  and  uo  one  asleep.     All  were 


412  DEATH  VALLEY 

retching  and  moaning  bitterly.  Some  who  had  a  few 
hours  before  cursed  California  now  cursed  the  sea,  and 
declared  that  if  they  could  induce  the  Captain  to  turn 
about  and  put  them  back  on  shore  again,  they  would 
rather  creep  on  their  hands  and  knees  clear  back  to 
old  Missouri  over  rocks  and  sand,  than  to  ride  any 
further  on  such  a  miserable  old  boat  as  this  one  was. 

Next  morning  the  decks  looked  pretty  filthy,  and 
about  all  the  food  the  passengers  had  eaten  was  now 
spread  about  the  decks  in  a  half  digested  condition. 
Most  of  the  passengers  were  very  sick.  With  the 
early  daylight  the  sailors  coupled  the  hose  to  the  big 
steam  pump,  and  began  the  work  of  washing  and 
scrubbing  off  the  decks,  and  though  many  begged 
hard  to  be  left  alone  as  they  were,  with  ail  the  filth,  a 
good  flood  of  salt  water  was  the  only  answer  they  re- 
ceived to  their  pleading,  and  they  were  compelled  to 
move,  for  the  sailors  said  they  could  not  change  their 
orders  without  the  Captain,  and  he  would  not  be  out 
of  bed  till. ten  o'clock  or  later.  So  the  cursing  and 
swearing  went  for  naught,  and  the  decks  were  clean 
again.  There  were  no  deaths  to  report,  but  there 
were  very  few  to  do  dut}'  at  the  tables  in  eating  the 
food  prepared  for  them.  After  a  few  days  the  tables 
filled  up  again,  and  now  it  took  them  so  long  to  eat 
that  there  had  to  be  an  order  for  only  two  meals  a  day 
or  there  would  not  have  been  a  chance  for  all  to  get 
something.  They  were  terribly  hungry  now,  and 
every  one  seemed  to  try  his  best  to  take  in  provisions 
enough  to  last  him  for  at  least  twelve  hours. 

As  the  fellows  began  to  get  their  sea  legs  on,  they 
began  to  talk  as  if  they  were  still  in  California,  and 
could  easily  manage  any  little  boat  like  this,  and  could 
run  things  as  they  did  when  they  crossed  the  plains, 
where  no  sheriff,  court  or  judge  had  anything  to  say 
about  matters,  and  all  law  was  left  behind.     They  be- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  4^3 

gan  to  act  as  if  they  were  lords  over  all  they  could  see, 
and  as  many  of  them  were  from  the  Southern    states, 
they  seemed  to  take  an  especial  pride  in  boasting  of 
how  they  did  as  they  pleased,  about  like  the  Helms 
brothers.     They  talked  as  if  they  could  run  the  world, 
or  the  universe  even,  themselves  without  assistance. 
One  morning  at  breakfast,  when  the  table  was  full 
and  the  waiters  scarce,  some  of  these    fellows   swore 
and  talked  pretty  rough,  and  as  a  waiter  was  passing 
a  blue-blood  from  New  Orleans  rose  in  his   seat    and 
called  for  sugar,  holding  the  empty  bowl  in  his  hand, 
but  the  waiter  passed  on  and  paid    no    attention,  and 
when  a  mulatto   waiter  came  along  behind  him  the 
angry  man  damned  him  the  worst  he  could,  ordering 
him  to  bring  a  bowl  of  sugar,  quick.     This  waiter  did 
not  stop  and  the  Louisiana  man  threw  the  bowl  at  the 
waiter's  head,  but  missed  it,  and  the  bowl  went  crash- 
ing against  the  side  of  the  ship.     I    expected    surely 
the  Captain  and  his  men  would  come  and  put  the  un- 
ruly fellow  in  irons,  and  there  might  be  a  fight   or    a 
riot,  so  I  cut  my  meal  short  and  went  on  deck  about 
as  soon  as  I  could  do  so,  thinking  that   would   be    a 
safer  place.     But  the  Captain  seemed  to  know  about 
how  to  manage  such  fellows,  and  never  left  his  state- 
room, which  I  think  was  a  wise    move.     The    darky 
did  not  make  his  appearance  at  table  afterwards,  and 
the  man  who  threw  the  bowl  said  that  colored  folks 
had  to  mind  a  gentleman  when  he  spoke  to  them,  or 
fare  worse. 

The  Captain  now  got  out  his  passenger  list,  and  we 
all  had  to  pass  through  a  narrow  space  near  the  wheel- 
house  and  every  one  answer  to  his  name  and  show  his 
ticket.  This  made  work  for  about  one  day.  Some 
stowaways  were  found  and  put  down  into  the  hole  to 
heave  coal.  One  day  the  Captain  and  mate  \\  ere  out 
taking  an  observation  on  the  sun  when  a  young  Mis- 


414  DEATH  VALIvKY. 

sourian  stepped  up  to  see  what  was  being  done,  and 
said  to  the  Captain: — "Captain,  don't  you  think  I 
could  learn  how  to  do  that  kind  of  business?"  The 
Captain  took  the  young  man's  hand  and  looked  at  his 
nails  which  were  very  rough  and  dirty  and  said: — 
"No,  my  lad;  boys  with  such  finger  nails  can't  learn 
navigation."  This  made  a  big  laugh  at  the  brave 
lubber's  expense. 

Many  of  the  sea-sick  ones  did  not  get  up  so  soon, 
and  some  died  of  that,  or  something  else,  and  their 
bodies  were  sewed  up  in  blankets  with  a  bushel  of 
coal  at  their  feet  to  sink  them,  and  thrown  overboard. 
The  bodies  were  laid  out  on  a  plank  at  the  ship's  side, 
the  Captain  would  read  a  very  brief  service,  and  the 
sailors  would,  at  the  appropriate  time,  raise  the  end 
of  the  plank  so  that  the  body  slid  off  and  went  down 
out  of  sight  in  a  moment. 

In  due  time  we  went  into  the  harbor  of  Acapulco 
for  water  and  coal.  Here  nearly  every  one  went  on 
shore,  and  as  there  was  no  wharf  for  the  vessel  to  lie 
to,  the  native  canoes  had  many  passengers  at  a  dollar 
apiece  for  passage  mone3^  Out  back  of  town  there 
was  a  small  stream  of  clear  water  which  was  warm 
and  nice  to  bathe  in,  and  some  places  three  or  four 
feet  deep,  so  that  a  great  many  stripped  off  for  a  good 
wash  which  was  said  to  be  very  healthful  in  this  cli- 
mate. Many  native  women  were  on  hand  with  soap 
and  towels  ready  to  give  any  one  a  good  scrubbing 
for  dos  reales,  (twenty-five  cents)  and  those  who  em- 
ployed them  said  they  did  a  good,  satisfactory  job. 

As  I  returned  to  town  the  streets  seemed  to  be  de- 
serted, and  I  saw  one  man  come  out  on  an  adjoining 
street,  and  after  running  a  few  steps,  fall  down  on  his 
face.  Hearing  the  report  of  a  gun  at  the  same  time,  I 
hurried  on  to  get  out  of  danger,  but  I  afterward  learn- 
ed that  the  man  was  a  travelling  gambler   who   had 


DEATH  VAT.LEY.  415 

come  across  the  country  from  Mexico,  and  that  he  was 
killed  as  he  fell.     No  one  seemed  to  care  for  him. 

Near  the  beach  were  some  large  trees,  and  under 
them  dancing  was  going  on  to  the  music  of  the  guitar. 
There  were  plenty  of  pretty  Spanish  girls  for  partners, 
and  these  and  our  boys  made  up  an  interesting  party. 
The  girls  did  not  seem  at  all  bashful  or  afraid  of  the 
boys,  and  though  they  could  not  talk  together  very 
much  they  got  along  with  the  sign  language,  and  the 
ladies  seemed  very  fond  of  the  Americanos. 

There  was  a  fort  here,  a  regular  moss-backed  old 
concern,  and  the  soldiers  were  bare  footed  and  did  not 
need  much  clothing. 

The  cattle  that  were  taken  on  board  here  were  made 
to  swim  out  to  the  ship,  and  then,  with  a  rope  around 
their  horns,  hoisted  on  deck,  a  distance  of  perhaps 
forty  feet  above  the  water.  The  maddened  brutes 
were  put  into  a  secure  stall  ready  for  the  ship's  butcher. 
The  small  boys  came  around  the  ship  in  canoes,  and 
begged  the  passengers  to  throw  them  out  a  dime,  and 
when  the  coin  struck  the  water  they  would  dive  for  it, 
never  losing  a  single  one.  One  man  dropped  a  bright 
bullet  and  the  boy  who  dove  for  it  was  so  enraged 
that  he  called  him  a  d — d  Gringo  (Englishman.) 
None  of  these  boys  wore  any  clothes. 

This  town,  like  all  vSpanish  towns,  was  composed  of 
one-story  houses,  with  dry  mud,  fire-proof  walls.  The 
country  around  looked  very  mountainous  and  barren, 
and  comfortably  warm. 

After  two  days  we  were  called  on  board,  and  soon 
set  sail  for  sea  again;  and  now,  as  we  approached  the 
equator,  it  became  uncomfortably  wavm  and  an  awn- 
ing was  put  over  the  upper  deck.  All  heavy  clothing 
was  laid  aside,  and  anyone  who  had  any  amount  of 
money  on  his  person  was  unable  to  conceal  it;  but  no 
one  seemed  to  have  anv  fear  of  theft,  for  a  thief  could 


4i6  DEATH  VAIvI^EY. 

not  conceal  anj'thing  he  should  steal,  and  no  one  re 
ported  anything  lost.     There  was  occasionally  a  dead 
body  to  be  consigned  to  a  watery  grave. 

A  few  days  out  from  here  and  we  were  again  mus- 
tered as  before  to  show  our  tickets,  which  were  care- 
fully examined. 

It  seemed  strange  to  me  that  the  water  was  the 
poorest  fare  we  had.  It  was  sickish  tasting  stuff,  and 
so  warm  it  w^ould  do  very  well  for  dish-w-ater. 

There  were  many  interesting  things  to  see.  Some- 
times it  would  be  spouting  whales;  sometimes  great 
black  masses  rolling  on  the  water,  looking  like  a  ship 
bottom  upward,  which  some  said  were  black-fish. 
Some  fish  seemed  to  be  at  play,  and  would  jump  ten 
feet  or  more  out  of  the  water.  The  flying  fish  would 
skim  over  the  waves  as  the  ship's  wheels  seemed  to 
frighten  them;  and  we  went  through  a  hundred  acres 
of  porpoises,  all  going  the  same  way.  The  ship  plow- 
ed right  through  them,  but  none  seemed  to  get  hurt 
by  the  wheels.  Perhaps  they  were  emigrants  like 
ourselves  in  search  of  a  better  place. 

It  now  became  terribly  hot,  and  the  sun  was  nearly 
overhead  at  noon.  Sometimes  a  shark  could  be  seen 
along-side,  and  though  he  seemed  to  make  no  effort, 
easily  kept  up  with  the  moving  ship.  Occasionally 
we  saw  a  sea  snake  navigating  the  ocean  all  by  him- 
self. I  did  not  understand  how  these  fellows  went  to 
sea  and  lived  so  far  from  land.  The  flying  fish  seemed 
to  be  more  plentiful  as  we  went  along,  and  would 
leave  the  water  and  scud  along  belore  us. 

We  had  evening  concerts  on  the  forecastle,  managed 
by  the  sailors.  Their  songs  were  not  sacred  songs  by 
any  means,  and  nianj-  of  them  hardly  fit  to  be  heard 
by  delicate  ears.  We  again  had  to  run  the  gauntlet 
of  the  narrow  passage  and  have  our  tickets  looked 
over,  and  this  time  a  new  stowawaj^  was   found,  and 


DEATH  VALLEY.  417 

he  straightway  made  application  for  a  job.  "Go  be- 
low, sir"  was  all  the  Captain  said.  Several  died  and 
had  their  sea  burial,  and  some  who  had  been  so  sick 
all  the  way  as  not  to  get  out  of  bed,  proved  tough 
enough  to  stand  the  climate  pretty  well. 

As  we  were  nearing  Panama  the  doctor  posted  a 
notice  to  the  mast  cautioning  us  against  eating  much 
fruit  while  on  shore,  as  it  was  very  dangerous  when 
eaten  to  excess.  We  anchored  some  little  distance 
from  the  shore  and  had  to  land  in  small  boats  managed 
by  the  natives.  I  went  in  one,  and  when  the  boat 
grounded  at  the  beach  the  boatman  took  me  on  his 
back  and  set  me  on  shore,  demanding  two  dollars  for 
the  job,  which  I  paid,  and  he  served  the  whole  crowd 
in  the  same  way.  The  water  here  was  blood  warm, 
and  they  told  me  the  tide  ran  very  high. 

This  was  a  strange  old  town  to  me,  walled  in  on 
all  sides,  a  small  plaza  in  the  center  with  a  Catholic 
church  on  one  side,  and  the  other  houses  were  mostly 
two  story.  On  the  side  next  to  the  beach  was  a  high, 
thick  wall  which  contained  cells  that  were  used  for  a 
jail,  and  on  top  were  some  dismounted  cannon,  long 
and  old  fashioned. 

The  soldiers  were  poor,  lazy  fellows,  barefooted,  and 
had  very  poor  looking  guns.  Going  out  and  in  all 
had  to  pass  through  a  large  gateway,  but  they  asked 
no  questions.  The  streets  were  very  narrow  and  dirty 
and  the  sleeping  rooms  in  the  second  story  of  the 
houses  seemed  to  be  inhabited  by  cats.  For  bed 
clothes  was  needed  only  a  single  sheet.  On  the  roofs 
all  around  sat  turkey  buzzards,  and  anything  that  fell 
in  the  streets  that  was  possible  for  them  to  eat,  was 
gobbled  up  very  quickly.  They  were  as  tame  as 
chickens,  and  walked  around  as  fearless  and  lordly  as 
tame  turkeys.  In  consideration  of  their  cleaning  up 
the  streets  without  pay,  they  were  protected  by  law. 


4i8  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

Ono  of  the  passengers  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
to  shoot  one,  and  a  small  squad  of  soldiers  were  soon 
after  him,  and  came  into  a  room  where  there  were 
fifty  of  us,  but  could  not  find  their  man.  He  would 
have  been  sent  to  jail  if  he  had  been  caught.  We  had 
to  pay  one  dollar  a  night  for  beds  in  these  rooms,  and 
they  counted  money  at  the  rate  of  eight  dimes  to  the 
dollar. 

The  old  town  of  Panama  lies  a  little  south  in  the 
edge  of  the  sea,  and  was  destroyed  by  an  earthquake 
long  ago  I  was  told.  To  me,  raised  in  the  north, 
everything  was  very  new  and  strange  in  way  of  living, 
style  of  building  and  kind  of  produce.  There  were 
donkeys,  parrots  and  all  kinds  of  monkeys  in  plenty. 
Most  of  the  women  were  of  very  dark  complexion, 
and  not  dressed  very  stylishly,  while  the  younger  pop- 
ulation did  not  have  even  a  fig  leaf,  or  anything  to 
take  its  place.  The  adults  dressed  very  economically, 
lor  the  days  are  summer  days  all  the  year  round,  and 
the  clothing  is  scanty  and  cheap  for  either  sex. 

The  cattle  were  small,  pale  red  creatures,  and  not 
inclined  to  be  very  fat,  and  the  birds  mostly  of  the 
pairot  kind.  The  market  plaza  is  outside  the  walls, 
and  a  small  stream  runs  through  it,  with  the  banks 
pretty  thickly  occupied  by  washerwomen.  All  the 
washing  was  done  without  the  aid  of  a  fire. 

On  the  plaza  there  were  plenty  of  donkeys  loaded 
with  truck  of  all  sorts,  from  wood,  green  grass,  cocoa- 
nuts  and  sugar-cane  to  parrots,  monkeys  and  all  kinds 
of  tropical  fruits.  Outside  the  walls  the  houses  were 
made  of  stakes  interwoven  with  palm  leaves,  and 
everything  was  green  as  well  as  the  grass  and  trees. 
Very  little  of  the  ground  seemed  to  be  cultivated,  and 
the  people  were  lazy  and  idle,  for  they  could  live  so 
easily  on  the  wild  products  of  the  country.  A  white 
man  here  would  soon  sweat  out  all  his  ambition  and 


DEATH  VALLEY,  419 

enterprise,  and  would  be  almost  certain  10  catch  the 
Panama  yellow  fever.  The  common  class  of  the  peo- 
ple here,  I  should  say,  were  Spanish  and  negro  mixed, 
and  they  seem  to  get  along  pretty  well;  but  the  coun- 
try is  not  suitable  for  white  people.  It  seems  to  have 
been  made  on  purpose  for  donkeys,  parrots  and  long- 
heeled  negroes. 

The  cabin  passengers  engaged  all  the  horses  and 
mules  the  country  afforded  on  which  to  ride  across 
the  Chagres  River,  so  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  myself  and 
companion  to  transfer  ourselves  on  foot,  which  was 
pretty  hard  work  in  the  hot  and  sultry  weather.  My 
gold  dust  began  to  grow  pretty  heavy  as  I  went  along, 
and  though  I  had  only  about  two  thousand  dollars, 
weighing  about  ten  pounds,  it  seemed  to  me  that  it 
weighed  fifty  pounds  by  the  way  that  it  bore  down 
upon  m)^  shoulders  and  wore  sore  places  on  them.  It 
really  was  burdensome.  I  had  worn  it  on  my  person 
night  and  day  ever  since  leaving  the  mines,  and  I  had 
some  little  fear  of  being  robbed  when  off  the  ship. 

Our  road  had  been  some  day  paved  with  cobble 
stones.  At  the  outskirts  of  the  town  we  met  a  native 
coming  in  with  a  big  green  lizard,  about  two  feet 
long,  which  he  was  hauling  and  driving  along  with  a 
string  around  its  neck.  I  wondered  if  this  was  not  a 
Panama  butcher  bringing  in  a  fresh  supply  of  meat. 

When  we  reached  the  hills  on  our  way  from  Pan- 
ama, the  paved  road  ended  and  we  had  only  a  nmle 
trail  to  follow.  The  whole  country  was  so  densely 
timbered  that  no  man  could  go  very  far  without  a 
cleared  road.  In  some  places  we  passed  over  hills  of 
solid  rock,  but  it  was  of  a  soft  nature  so  that  the  trail 
was  worn  down  very  deep,  and  we  had  to  take  the 
same  regular  steps  that  the  mules  did,  for  their  tracks 
were  worn  down  a  foot  or  more.  On  the  road  we 
would  occasionally  meet  a  native  with  a  heavy  pack 


420  DEATH  VALLEY. 

on  his  back,  a  long  staff  in  each  hand,  and  a  solid 
half-length  sword  by  his  side.  He,  like  the  burro, 
grunted  every  step  he  took.  They  seemed  to  carry 
unreasonably  heavy  loads  on  their  backs,  such  as 
boxes  and  trunks,  but  there  was  no  other  way  of  get- 
ting either  freight  or  baggage  across  the  isthmus  at 
that  time. 

It  looked  to  me  as  if  this  trail  might  be  just  such  a 
one  as  one  would  expect  robbers  to  frequent,  for  it 
would  of  course  be  expected  that  Californians  would 
carry  considerable  money  with  them,  and  we  might 
reasonably  look  out  for  this  sort  of  gentry  at  any  turn 
of  the  trail.  We  were  generally  without  weapons, 
and  we  should  have  to  deliver  on  demand,  and  if  any 
one  was  killed  the  body  could  easily  be  concealed  in 
the  thick  brush  on  either  side  of  the  trail,  and  no 
special  search  for  anyone  missing  would  occur. 

About  noon  one  day  we  came  to  a  native  hut,  and 
saw  growing  on  a  tree  near  by  something  that  looked 
like  oranges,  and  we  made  very  straight  tracks  with 
the  idea  of  picking  some  and  having  a  feast,  but  some 
of  the  people  in  the  shanty  called  out  to  us  and  made 
motions  for  us  not  to  pick  them  for  they  were  no  good; 
so  we  missed  our  treat  of  oranges  and  contented  our- 
selves with  a  big  drink  of  water  and  walked  on. 

After  a  little  more  travel  we  came  to  another  shanty 
made  of  poles  and  palm  leaves,  occupied  by  an  Amer- 
ican. He  was  a  tall,  raw-boned,  cadaverous  looking 
way-side  renegade  who  looked  as  if  the  blood  had  all 
been  pumped  out  of  his  veins,  and  he  claimed  to  be 
sick.  He  said  he  was  one  of  the  Texas  royal  sons. 
We  applied  for  some  dinner  and  he  lazily  told  us  there 
were  flour,  tea  and  bacon  and  that  we  could  help  our- 
selves. I  wet  up  some  flour  and  baked  some  cakes, 
made  some  poor  tea,  and  fried  some  bacon.  We  all 
got  a  sort  of  dinner  out  ot  his   pantry    stufi",  and    left 


DEATH  VALLEY.  421 

him  a  dollar  apiece  for  the  accomodation.  As  we 
walked  on  my  companion  gave  out  and  could  carry 
his  bundle  no  longer,  so  I  took  it,  along  with  my  own, 
and  we  got  on  as  fast  as  we  could,  but  darkness  came 
on  us  before  we  reached  the  Chagres  River  and  we 
had  to  stay  all  night  at  a  native  hut.  We  had  some 
supper  consisting  of  some  very  poor  coffee,  crackers, 
and  a  couple  of  eggs  apiece,  and  had  to  sleep  out  un- 
der a  tree  where  we  knew  we  might  find  lizards, 
snakes,  and  other  poisonous  reptiles,  and  perhaps  a 
thieving  monkey  might  pick  our  pockets  while  we 
slept. 

Before  it  was  entirely  dark  many  who  rode  horses 
came  along,  many  of  them  ladies,  and  following  the 
custom  of  the  country,  they  all  rode  astride.  Among 
this  crowd  was  one  middle-aged  and  somewhat  corpu- 
lent old  fellow,  by  profession  a  sea-captain,  who  put 
on  many  airs.  The  old  fellow  put  on  his  cool  white 
coat — in  fact,  a  white  suit  throughout — and  in  this 
tropical  climate  he  looked  very  comfortable,  indeed, 
thus  attired.  He  filled  his  breast  pocket  with  fine  ci- 
gars, and  put  in  the  other  pocket  a  flask  with  some 
medicine  in  it  which  was  good  for  snake  bites,  and 
also  tending  to  produce  courage  in  case  the  man,  not 
used  to  horse-back  riding,  should  find  his  natural 
spirits  failing.  The  rest  of  his  luggage  was  placed  on 
pack  animals,  and  in  fact  the  only  way  luggage  was 
carried  in  those  days  was  either  on  the  backs  of  don- 
keys or  men. 

All  was  ready  for  a  start,  and  the  captain  in  his 
snow-white  suit  was  mounted  on  a  mule  so  small  that 
his  feet  nearly  touched  the  ground.  The  little  animal 
had  a  mind  of  his  own,  and  at  first  did  not  seem  in- 
•clined  to  start  out  readily,  but  after  a  bit  concluded  to 
follow  his  fellow  animals,  and  all  went  well. 

The  rider  was  much  amused  at  what  he  saw;  some- 


422  DEATH  VALLEY. 

times  a  very  lively  monkey,  sometimes  a  flock  of  par- 
oquets or  a  high-colored  lizard — and  so  he  rode  along 
with  a  very  happy  air,  holding  his  head  up,  and  smok- 
ing a  fragrant  Havana  with  much  grace.  The  road 
was  rough  and  rocky,  with  a  mud-hole  now  and  then 
of  rather  uncertain  depth.  At  every  one  of  these 
mud-holes  the  Captain's  mule  would  stop,  put  down 
his  head,  blow  his  nose  and  look  wise,  and  then  care- 
fully sound  the  miniature  sea  with  his  fore-feet,  being 
altogether  too  cautious  to  suit  his  rider  who  had  never 
been  accustomed  to  a  craft  that  was  afraid  of  water. 

At  one  of  these  performances  the  mule  evidently 
concluded  the  sea  before  him  was  not  safe,  for  when 
the  captain  tried  to  persuade  him  to  cross  his  persua- 
sions had  no  effect.  Then  he  coaxed  him  with  voice 
gentle,  soft  and  low,  with  the  result  that  the  little  an- 
imal took  a  few  very  short  steps  and  then  came  to  an- 
chor again.  Then  the  captain  began  to  get  slightly 
roiled  in  temper,  and  the  voice  was  not  so  gentle, 
sweet  and  low,  but  it  had  no  greater  effect  upon  his 
craft.  He  began  to  get  anxious,  for  the  others  had 
gone  on,  and  he  thought  perhaps  he  might  be  left. 

Now,  this  sea-faring  man  had  armed  his  heels  with 
the  large  Spanish  spurs  so  common  in  the  country, 
and  bringing  them  in  contact  with  the  force  due  to 
considerable  impatience,  Mr.  Mule  was  quite  suddenly 
and  painfully  aware  of  the  result.  This  was  harsher 
treatment  than  he  could  peaceably  submit  to,  and  at 
the  second  application  of  the  spurs  a  pair  of  small 
hoofs  were  very  high  in  the  air  and  the  captain  very 
low  on  his  back  in  the  mud  and  water,  having  been 
blown  from  the  hurricane  deck  of  his  craft  in  a  very 
sudden  and  lively  style.  The  philosophical  mule  stood 
very  still  and  looked  on  while  the  white  coat  and 
pantaloons  were  changing  to  a  dirty  brown,  and 
watched  the  captain  as  he  waded  out,   to  the   accom- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  423 

paniment    of    some     very     vigorous     swear     words. 

Both  the  man  and  beast  looked  very  doubtful  of 
each  other's  future  actions,  but  the  man  shook  the 
water  off  and  bestowed  some  lively  kicks  on  his  mule- 
ship  which  made  him  bounce  into  and  through  the 
mud-hole,  and  the  captain,  still  holding  the  bridle,  fol- 
lowed after.  Once  across  the  pool  the  captain  set  his 
marine  eye  on  the  only  craft  that  had  been  too  much 
for  his  navigation  and  said  "Vengeance  should  be 
mine,  "  and  in  thi>"  doubtful  state  of  mind  he  cautiouslv 
mounted  his  beast  again  and  fully  resolved  to  stick  to 
the  deck,  hereafter,  at  all  hazards,  he  hurried  on  and 
soon  overtook  the  train  again,  looking  quite  like  a 
half  drowned  rooster.  The  others  laughed  at  him  and 
told  him  they  could  find  better  water  a  little  way  ahead, 
at  the  river,  and  they  would  see  him  safely  in.  The 
captain  was  over  his  pet,  and  made  as  much  fun  as 
any  of  them,  declaring  that  he  could  not  navigate 
such  a  bloody  craft  as  that  in  such  limited  sea  room, 
for  it  was  dangerous  even  when  there  was  no  gale  to 
speak  of. 

The  ladies  did  not  blush  at  the  new  and  convenient 
costumes  which  they  saw  in  this  countr}-,  and  laughed 
a  good  deal  over  the  way  of  traveling  they  had  to 
adopt.  Any  who  were  sick  were  carried  in  a  kind  of 
chair  strapped  to  the  back  of  a  native.  Passengers 
were  strung  along  the  road  for  miles,  going  and  com- 
ing. We  would  occasioually  sit  down  awhile  and  let 
the  sweat  run  off  while  a  party  of  them  passed  us. 
Some  were  mounted  on  horses,  some  on  mules,  and 
some  on  donkeys,  and  they  had  to  pay  twelve  dollars 
for  the  use  of  an  animal  for  the  trip. 

Our  night  at  this  wayside  deadfall  was  not  much 
better  than  some  of  the  nights  about  Death  \^alley, 
but  as  I  was  used  to  lowfare,  I  did  not  complain  as 
some  did.     This  seemed  a    wonderful   country    to   a 


424  DEATH  VALLEY. 

northern  raised  boy.  The  trail  was  lined  on  both 
sides  with  all  kinds  of  palms  and  various  other  kinds 
of  trees  and  shrubs,  and  they  were  woven  together  in 
a  compact  mass  with  trailing  and  running  vines.  The 
trees  were  not  tall,  and  the  bark  was  as  smooth  as  a 
young  hickory.  The  roots  would  start  out  of  the  tree 
three  feet  above  the  ground  and  stand  out  at  an  angle, 
and  looked  like  big  planks  placed  edgewise. 

It  seemed  as  if  there  were  too  many  plants  for  the 
ground  to  support,  and  so  they  grew  on  the  big  limbs 
of  the  trees  all  around,  the  same  as  the  mistletoe  on 
the  oak,  only  there  were  ever  so  many  different  kinds. 

The  weather  was  very  clear,  and  the  sun  so  hot  that 
many  of  the  travelers  began  to  wilt  and  sit  down  by 
the  roadside  to  rest.  Mcny  walked  along  very  slowly 
and  wore  long  faces.  The  road  from  Panama  to  Cru- 
cez,  on  the  Chagres  River,  was  eighteen  miles  long, 
and  all  were  glad  when  they  were  on  the  last  end  of 
it.  The  climate  here  seems  to  take  all  the  starch  and 
energy  out  of  a  man's  body,  and  in  this  condition  he 
m\ist  be  very  cautious  or  some  disease  will  overtake 
him  and  he  will  be  left  to  die  without  burial  for  his 
body  if  he  has  no  personal  friends  with  him. 

We  started  on  the  next  morning,  and  on  our  way 
stepped  over  a  large  ship  anchor  that  lay  across  the 
trail.  I  suppose  the  natives  had  undertaken  to  pack 
it  across  the  isthmus  and  found  it  too  heavy  for  them. 
Perhaps  it  was  for  Capt.  Kidd,  the  great  pirate,  for  it 
is  said  that  he  often  visited  Panama  in  the  course  of 
his  cruising  about  in  search  of  treasures. 

Passing  along  a  sandy  place  in  the  trail,  a  snake 
crossed  and  left  his  track,  big  as  a  stovepipe  it  seemed 
to  be,  and  after  this  we  kept  a  sharp  watch  for  big 
snakes  that  might  be  in  waiting  to  waylav  us  for 
game. 

There  were  plenty  of  monkeys  and  parrots  climbing 


DEATH  VALLEY.  425 

and  chattering  around  in  the  trees.  The  forest  is  here 
so  dense  that  the  wind  never  blows,  and  consequently 
it  never  gets  cool.  The  sun,  ever  since  we  got  down 
near  the  equator,  was  nearly  overhead,  and  the  moon 
seemed  to  be  even  north  of  us. 

When  w^e  reached  the  Chagres  River  we  hired  a 
boat  of  an  Irishman  for  the  trip  down.  I  wondered  if 
there  was  a  place  on  earth  so  desolate  that  the  "Paddy" 
would  not  find  it.  The  boat  for  the  journey  cost  two 
hundred  dollars,  and  would  hold  passengers  enough 
so  that  it  would  cost  us  ten  dollars  each,  at  any  rate, 
and  perhaps  a  little  more.  Two  natives  had  charge  of 
the  boat  and  did  the  navigating.  There  were  two 
ladies  among  the  passengers,  and  when  the  two  nat- 
ives, who  I  suppose  were  the  captain  and  mate  of  the 
craft,  came  on  board,  clad  very  coolly  in  Panama  hats, 
the  ladies  looked  at  them  a  little  out  of  the  corners  of 
their  eyes  and  made  the  best  of  it.  Our  two  navigat- 
ors took  the  oars  and  pulled  slowly  ddwn  the  stream. 

Nothing  but  water  and  evergreen  trees  could  we  see, 
for  the  shore  on  either  hand  was  completely  hidden 
by  the  dense  growth  that  hung  over  and  touched  the 
water.  On  a  mud  bar  that  we  passed  a  huge  alligator 
lay,  taking  a  sun  bath,  and  though  many  shots  were 
fired  at  him  he  moved  away  very  leisurely.  No  one 
could  get  on  shore  without  first  clearing  a  road 
through  the  thick  brushes  and  vines  along  the  bank. 
On  the  way  one  of  our  boatmen  lost  his  hat,  his  only 
garment,  into  the  river,  and  overboard  he  went,  like 
a  dog,  and  soon  had  it  and  climbed  on  board  again. 
I  wondered  why  some  of  the  big  alligators  did  not 
make  a  snap  at  him. 

The  water  in  the  run  looked  very  roily  and  dirty, 
and  no  doubt  had  fever  in  it.  The  only  animals  we 
saw  were  monkeys  and  alligators,  and  there  were  par- 
rots in  the  trees.    The  tarther  we  went  down  the  stream 


426  DEATH  VALLKY. 

the  wider  it  became,  and  the  current  slacker  so  that 
we  moved  more  slowly  with  the  same  amount  of  row- 
ing. At  a  place  called  Dos  Hermanos  (two  brothers) 
we  could  see  a  little  cleared  spot  near  the  bank,  which 
seemed  to  be  three  or  four  feet  above  the  water.  There 
were  no  mountains  nor  hills  in  sight,  and  the  whole 
countr}'  seemed  to  be  an  extensive  swamp.  It  was 
near  night  that  we  came  to  a  small  native  village  of 
palm  huts,  and  here  our  boatmen  landed  and  hid  them- 
selves, and  not  being  able  to  find  them  we  were  com- 
pelled to  stay  all  night,  for  we  dare  not  go  on  alone. 
The  place  looked  like  a  regular  robbers'  roost,  and  be- 
ing forced  to  sleep  outside  the  huts,  we  considered  it 
safest  to  sleep  with  one  eye  open.  We  would  have 
gone  on  with  the  boat  only  that  we  were  afraid  the 
river  might  have  more  than  one  outlet,  and  if  we 
should  take  the  wrong  one  we  might  be  too  late  for 
the  steamer,  which  even  now  we  were  afraid  would 
not  wait  for  us,  and  getting  left  would  be  a  very  seri- 
ous matter  in  this  country. 

We  had  very  little  to  eat,  and  all  we  could  buy  was 
sugar  cane,  bananas,  monkeys  and  parrots.  We  kept 
a  sharp  eye  out  for  robbers,  keeping  together  as  much 
as  we  could,  for  we  knew  that  all  returning  Califor- 
nians  would  be  suspected  of  having  money.  Most  all 
of  them  were  ready  for  war  except  myself  who  had  no 
weapon  of  any  kind.  All  of  these  people  had  a  bad 
name,  and  every  one  of  them  carried  a  long  bladed 
knife  called  a  Macheta,  with  which  they  could  kill  a 
man  at  a  single  blow.  But  with  all  our  fears  we  got 
through  the  night  safely,  and  in  the  morning  found 
our  boatmen  who  had  hidden  away.  We  waited  not 
for  breakfast,  but  sailed  away  as  soon  as  we  could,  and 
reached  Chagres,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  before 
night. 

The  river  banks  here  are  not  more   than   three  feet 


DEATH  VALLEY.  427 

high,  and  farther  back  the  land  fell  oflF  again  into  a 
wet  swamp  of  timber  and  dense  vegetable  growth. 
The  town  was  small  and  poorl)'  built,  on  the  immedi- 
ate bank,  and  the  houses  were  little  brush  and  palm 
affairs  except  the  boarding  house  which  was  "T" 
shaped,  the  front  two  stories  high,  with  a  long  dining 
room  running  back,  having  holes  for  windows,  but  no 
glass  in  them. 

Before  the  bell  rung  for  meals  a  long  string  of  hun- 
gry men  would  form  in  line,  and  at  the  first  tap  would 
make  a  rush  for  the  table  like  a  flock  of  sheep.  After 
all  were  seated  a  waiter  came  around  and  collected  a 
dollar  from  each  one,  and  we  thought  this  paid  pretty 
well  for  the  very  poor  grub  they  served  afterwards. 

No  ship  had  as  yet  been  in  sight  to  take  us  awa}- 
from  this  lowest,  dirtiest,  most  unhealthful  place  on 
earth,  and  the  prospect  of  remaining  here  had  nothing 
very  charming  about  it.  The  river  was  full  of  alliga- 
tors, so  the  bathing  was  dangerous,  and  the  whole 
country  was  about  fit  for  its  inhabitants,  which  were 
snakes,  alligators,  monkeys,  parrots  and  lazy  negroes. 
It  could  not  have  been  more  filthy  if  the  dregs  of  the 
whole  earth  had  been  dumped  here,  and  cholera  and 
yellow  fever  were  easy  for  a  decent  man  to  catch. 

My  companion  and  I  went  out  on  the  beach  a  mile 
or  two  to  get  the  salt  water  breeze,  and  leave  the 
stinking  malaria  for  those  who  chose  to  stay  in  the 
hot,  suffocating  village,  and  here  we  would  stay  until 
nearly  night.  Across  a  small  neck  of  water  was  what 
was  called  a  fort.  It  could  hardly  be  seen  it  was  so 
covered  with  moss  and  vines,  but  near  the  top  could 
be  seen  something  that  looked  like  old  walls.  There 
was  no  sign  of  life  about  it,  and  I  should  judge  it  was 
built  at  some  very  early  day.  Surely  there  was  noth- 
ing here  to  protect,  for  the  whole  country  did  not  seem 
able  to  support  even  a  few  barefooted  soldiers. 


428  DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 

Some  men  who  wandered  along  up  the  river  bank, 
following  a  path,  said  they  had  seen  some  dead  human 
bodies  thrown  into  the  swamp  a^d  left,  probably  be- 
cause it  was  easier  than  putting  them  under  ground. 

For  a  bedroom  I  hired  a  little  platform  which  a 
store  keeper  had  placed  before  his  store,  where  1  slept, 
and  paid  a  dollar  for  the  privilege.  Some  one  walked 
around  near  me  all  night,  and  I  dared  not  close  more 
than  one  eye  at  a  time  for  fear  of  losing  a  little  bag  of 
gold  dust.  This  little  bag  of  gold  was  getting  to  be  a 
great  burden  to  me  in  this  sickly  climate,  and  the  vig- 
ilant guard  I  had  to  keep  ov^er  so  small  a  treasure  was 
very  tiresome. 

The  second  night  no  steamer  came,  but  on  the  third 
morning  the  steamer  was  riding  at  anchor  three  or 
four  miles  out,  and  soon  after  a  ship  came  in  from  the 
Atlantic  end  of  the  Nicaragua  route  with  one  thous- 
and passengers,  there  being  no  steamer  there  for  them 
to  take  a  passage  home  on,  and  so  they  had  to  come 
here  for  a  start.  This  filled  the  little  town  to  over- 
flowing, but  as  the  ship  that  had  arrived  was  the 
Georga,  one  of  the  largest  afloat,  all  could  go  if  they 
only  could  endure  the  fare. 

We  now  had  to  go  in  small  boats  from  the  shore  to 
the  ship,  and  the  trip  cost  two  dollars  and  a  half.  I 
waited  till  I  had  seen  some  of  the  boats  make  a  trip 
or  two,  and  then  choosing  one  that  had  a  sober  skip- 
per, I  made  the  venture.  It  was  said  that  one  drunk- 
en boatman  allowed  his  boat  to  drift  into  some  break- 
ers and  all  were  lost. 

I  tell  you  I  was  over  anxious  to  get  out  of  this  coun- 
try, for  I  well  knew  that  if  I  stayed  very  long  I  should 
stay  forever,  for  one  like  my.self  raised  in  a  healthful 
climate,  could  not  remain  long  without  taking  some 
of  the  fatal  diseases  the  country  was  full  of. 

We  made  the  trip  to  the  vessel  safely,  and  as  our 


DEATH  VALLEY.  429 

boat  lay  under  the  ship's  quarter,  the  men  holding 
the  ropes,  I  looked  up,  and  when  I  saw  the  swinging 
rope  ladder  on  which  I  was  expected  to  climb  up  to 
the  ship's  deck,  it  seemed  a  pretty  dangerous  job;  but 
I  mustered  up  courage  and  made  the  attempt.  The 
sea  was  pretty  rough  out  here  for  the  small  boats,  and 
the  ship  rolled  some,  so  that  when  persons  tried  to  get 
hold  of  the  ladder  they  were  thrown  down  and  some- 
times hurt  a  little.  A  man-  held  on  to  the  lower  end 
of  the  ladder  so  that  the  one  who  was  climbing  might 
not  get  banged  against  the  side  of  the  ship  and  have 
his  breath  knocked  out  of  him,  I  mounted  the  ladder 
safely  and  climbed  awa}^  like  a  monkey,  reaching  the 
deck  all  right.  Ladies  and  weak  people  were  hauled 
up  in  a  sort  of  chair  with  a  block  and  rope. 

It  took  the  most  of  two  days  to  get  the  people  on 
board,  and  when  they  were  counted  up  there  were 
one  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty,  all  told.  This 
steamer  had  a  very  long  upper  deck  and  a  compara- 
tively short  keel,  and  rolled  veiy  badly;  and  as  for  me, 
I  had  swallowed  so  much  of  the  deadly  malaria  of  the 
isthmus  that  I  soon  got  ver}^  seasick,  and  the  first  day 
or  two  were  very  unpleasant.  I  went  to  the  bar  and 
paid  two  bits  for  a  glass  of  wine  to  help  my  appetite, 
but  it  staid  with  me  no  longer  than  time  enough  to 
reach  the  ship's  side.  When  night  came  the  decks 
were  covered  with  sleepy  men,  and  if  the  weather  had 
been  rough  and  all  sick,  as  was  the  case  when  we  left 
San  Francisco,  we  should  have  had  more  filthy  decks 
than  we  had  even  on  that  occasion. 

Approaching  the  harbor  at  Havana,  Cuba,  we 
seemed  to  be  going  head  foremost  against  a  wall  of 
solid  rock,  but  when  within  speaking  distance  an  offi- 
cer came  in  sight  on  the  fort  right  l)efore  us,  and 
shouted  through  his  speaking  trumpet,  saying: — 
"Why  don't  you  salute  us?"     Our  officer  said,  "You 


430  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

know  us  well  enough  without. ' '  Our  ship  had  a  small 
cannon  on  the  forecastle,  but  did  not  choose  to  use  it, 
and  I  suppose  the  Cuban  officer  felt  slighted.  We 
now  turned  short  to  the  right  and  entered  the  beauti- 
ful harbor,  which  is  perfectly  landlocked  and  as  still 
as  a  pond.  The  city  is  all  on  the  right  side  of  the  bay 
and  our  coal  \ard  was  on  the  left  at  a  short  wharf  at 
which  we  landed, 

A  lot  of  armed  soldiers  were  placed  a  short  distance 
back  on  the  high  ground  and  no  one  was  allowed  to 
go  beyond  them.  We  now  had  a  port  officer  on  board 
who  had  entire  charge  of  the  ship,  and  if  anj'one 
wanted  to  go  to  the  city,  across  the  bay  two  or  three 
miles,  he  had  to  pay  a  dollar  for  a  pass.  This  pass 
business  made  the  blue  bloods  terribly  angry,  and 
the^^  swore  long  and  loud,  and  the  longer  they  talked 
the  madder  they  got,  and  more  bitter  in  their  feelings, 
so  that  they  were  ready  to  fight  (not  with  sugar-bowls 
this  time. ) 

The  weather  here  was  very  warm  and  the  heat 
powerful,  and  as  these  fellows  saw  there  was  only  one 
course  to  be  pursued  if  they  wanted  to  get  on  shore, 
they  slowly  took  passes  good  for  all  day  and  paid  their 
dollar  for  them,  and  also  another  dollar  each  to  the 
canoe  men  to  take  them  to  the  city.  Myself  and  com- 
panion also  took  passes  and  went  over. 

Arriving  at  the  city  we  walked  a  short  distance  and 
came  to  the  plaza,  which  is  not  a  very  large  one- 
Here  was  a  single  grave  nicely  fenced  in,  and  across 
the  plaza  were  some  large  two-story  houses  in  front 
of  which  was  stationed  a  squad  of  cavalry  standing  as 
motionless  as  if  every  mail  of  them  was  a  marble 
statue.  We  kept  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street, 
and  chancing  to  meet  a  man  whom  we  rightly  sup- 
posed to  be  an  Englishman,  we  inquired  about  the 
grave  on  the  plaza  and  were  informed  that  it  was  that 


DEATH  VALLEY.  431 

of  Christopher  Cohimbus,  the  discoverer  of  America. 

Just  then  we  noticed  the  cavalry  moving  up  the 
street  at  a  slow  gallop,  and  so  formed  that  a  close  car- 
riage was  in  the  center  of  the  squad.  As  they  rushed 
by  and  we  gazed  at  them  with  purely  American  curi- 
ousity,  our  new  English  friend  raised  our  hats  for  us 
and  held  them  till  the  cavalcade  had  passed,  merely 
remarking  that  the  Governor  General  was  within  the 
carriage.  We  spoke  perhaps  a  bit  unpleasantly  when 
we  asked  him  why  he  was  so  ungentlemanly  in  his 
treatment  of  us  as  to  remove  our  hats,  but  he  said: — 
"My  friends,  if  I  had  not  taken  off  your  hats  for  you 
as  a  friend,  some  of  those  other  fellows  would  have 
knocked  them  off,  so  I  did  for  you  an  act  of  greatest 
kindness,  for  every  one  removes  his  hat  when  the 
Governor  General  passes.  "  He  also  informed  us  that 
the  special  occasion  for  this  rather  pompous  parade 
was  the  execution  of  some  criminals  at  a  park  or 
prison  not  far  away,  and  that  this  was  done  by  behead- 
ing them. 

Our  friend  proposed  that  we  also  walk  out  in  that 
direction,  and  we  went  with  him  to  the  edge  of  the 
city,  but  when  he  turned  into  a  by.  path  that  did  not 
seem,  much  frequented,  we  declined  to  follow  farther, 
and  turned  back  along  the  open  road.  The  path 
looked  to  us  a  sort  of  robber's  route,  and  not  exactly 
safe  for  unarmed  men  like  us  in  a  strange  country. 

The  man  followed  us  back  and  took  us  into  a  large, 
airy  saloon,  in  the  center  of  which  a  big  fountain  was 
playing,  and  the  great  basin  in  which  the  water  fell 
was  filled  with  beautiful  fish.  Our  friend  called  for  an 
iced  drink  for  each  of  us,  and  as  we  sat  at  the  table 
we  tasted  it  and  found  it  rather  intoxicating.  For 
this  they  charged  us  one  dollar  each,  but  we  noticed 
that  our  friend  paid  nothing,  and  we  set  him  down  as 
a  sort  of  capper,   after  the  style  we  had  seen  at  the 


432  DEATH  VALLEY 

gold  mines.  We  sat  a  lew  minutes  and  then  so  coolly 
bade  our  friend  good-bye  that  he  had  not  the  face  to 
follow  us  further,  and  continued  our  walk  about  the 
streets  which  seemed  to  us  very  narrow,  and  the 
houses  generally  two  stories  high. 

A  chaise  passed  us,  containing  two  young  ladies 
with  complexions  white  and  fair,  and  eyes  and  hair 
black,  in  striking  contrast.  The  carriage  was  drawn 
by  two  horses  tandem,  the  horse  in  the  shafts  being 
mounted  by  a  big  negro  of  very  dignified  appearance, 
dressed  in  livery  and  having  top  boots  that  came  to 
his  knees.  This  was  the  only  vehicle  of  the  kind  we 
saw  on  the  streets. 

We  did  not  dare  to  go  very  far  alone,  for  with  our 
ignorance  of  the  Spanish  language  we  might  go  astray 
and  not  get  back  to  the  ship  within  the  lifetime  of  our 
passes,  and  not  knowing  how  much  trouble  that 
might  cause  us,  we  were  naturally  a  little  timid;  so 
we  took  a  boat  back  to  the  ship,  and  when  on  board 
again  we  felt  safe.  We  had  only  about  four  dollars 
cash  left. 

A  big  gang  of  darkies  were  coaling  the  ship.  Each 
one  carried  a  large  tub  full  of  coal  upon  his  head  and 
poured  it  down  into  the  ship's  hold.  All  the  clothes 
these  fellows  wore  was  a  strip  of  cloth  about  their 
middle.  When  they  were  let  off  for  dinner  they  skim- 
med off  all  they  could  get  from  the  ship's  slop  barrel 
whif^h  stood  on  the  wharf  alongside,  to  help  out  their 
very  scanty  food.  The  .overseer  stood  by  them  all  the 
time  with  a  big  whip  and  made  them  hurry  up  as  fast 
as  possible,  talking  Spanish  pretty  vigorously,  and 
though  we  could  not  understand,  we  made  up  our 
minds  that  a  good  part  of  it  was  swearing. 

The  next  morning  the  steamship  Prometheus  came 
in  and  tied  up  near  us,  and  soon  word  was  brought 
that  she  would  take  the  New   Orleans  passengers  on 


DEATH  VAIvLEY.  433 

board  and  sail  immediately  for  that  port.  It  now  oc- 
curred to  me  that  I  could  geL  nearer  home  by  going 
up  the  Mississippi  River  than  by"wa;y-'^f  New  York, 
so  I  went  on  board  the  Prometheus,  and  we  soon 
sailed  out  of  the  harbor,  passing  under  the  gsie  of  the 
fortress  called,  I  think,  San  Juan  de  Ulloa. 

Nothing  special  occurred  during  our  passage^ll  we 
were  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River,  when, 
in  the  absence  of  a  pilot  boat  or  tug,  our  Captain 
thought  he  would  try  to  get  in  alone,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence we  were  soon  fast  in  the  mud.  The  Ca])tain 
now  made  all  the  passengers  go  aft,  and  worked  the 
engine  hard  but  could  not  move  her  at  all.  The  tide 
was  now  low,  and  there  was  a  prospect  that  we  should 
have  to  wait  full  six  hours  to  get  away.  We  worked 
on,  however,  and  after  a  few  hours  a  tug  came  to  our 
assistance  and  pulled  us  out  of  the  mud  and  towed  us 
into  the  right  channel,  up  which  we  steamed  on  our 
way  to  New  Orleans,  one-hundred-twenty  miles  away. 

The  country  on  both  sides  of  us  was  an  immense 
marsh — no  hills  in  sight,  no  timber,  nothing  but  the 
same  level  marsh  or  prairie.  When  we  were  nearer 
the  Crescent  City  some  houses  came  in  siglit;  then  we 
passed  General  Jackson's  battle-field,  and  in  due  time 
reached  the  city. 

On  board  this  ship  I  became  acquainted  with  Dick 
Evans  who  lived  in  the  same  county  that  I  used  to  in 
Wisconsin,  near  Mineral  Point,  .so  the  three  of  us  now 
concluded  to  travel  together. 

New  Orleans  seemed  to  be  a  very  large  city.  Near 
the  levet  a  large  government  building  was  in  course 
of  construction  for  a  Custom  House.  It  was  all  of 
stone,  and  the  walls  were  up  about  two  stories.  We 
put  up  at  a  ])rivate  boarding  house,  and  the  first  busi- 
ness was  to  try  and  sell  our  gold  dust.  vSo  we  went 
to  the  mint  and  were  told  we  would  have  to  wait  ten 


434  DEATH  VALLEY. 

days  to  run  it  through  the  mill,  and  we  did  not  like 
to  wait  so  long.  We  were  shown  all  through  the 
mint  and  saw  all  the  wonders  of  coin  maki.ig.  Every 
thing  seemed  perfect  here.  Beautiful  machinery  was 
in  operation  making  all  sizes  of  gold  coins,  from  a 
twenty  dollar  piece  down.  Strips  of  gold  bands  about 
six  feet  long  and  of  the  proper  thickness  for  twenty 
dollar  pieces  are  run  through  a  machine  which  cuts 
out  the  pieces,  and  when  these  are  cut  they  can  stamp 
out  the  pieces  as  fast  as  one  can  count. 

This  was  the  most  ingenious  work  I  ever  saw,  and 
very  wonderful  and  astonishing  to  a  backwoodsman 
like  myself,  for  I  supposed  that  money  was  run  in 
moulds  like  bullets. 

As  we  could  not  wait  we  went  to  a  bank  and  sold 
our  dust,  getting  only  sixteen  dollars  per  ounce,  the 
same  price  they  paid  in  Calfornia.  We  now  took  the 
cars  and  rode  out  to  Lake  Ponchantrain — most  of  the 
way  over  a  trestle  work.  We  found  a  wharf  and 
warehouse  at  the  lake,  and  a  steamer  lay  there  all 
ready  to  go  across  to  the  other  side.  The  country  all 
about  looked  low,  with  no  hills  in  sight. 

When  we  returned  to  the  city  we  looked  all  about, 
and  in  the  course  of  our  travels  came  to  a  slave  mar- 
ket. Here  there  were  all  sorts  of  black  folks  for  sale; 
big  and  jittle,  old  and  young  and  all  sorts.  They  all 
seamed  good-natured,  and  were  clean,  and  seemed  to 
think  the}^  were  worth  a  good  deal  of  money.  Look- 
ing at  them  a  few  minutes  sent  my  mind  back  to  St. 
Joseph,  Missouri,  where  I  saw  a  black  sold  at  auction. 
From  my  standpoint  of  education  I  did  not  approve 
of  this  way  of  trading  in  colored  people. 

We  continued  our  stroll  about  the  cit}',  coming  to 
a  cemetery,  where  I  looked  into  a  newly  dug  grave 
to  find  it  half  full  of  water.  On  one  side  were  many 
brick  vaults  above  ground.     The  ground  here  is  very 


DEATH  VAT.LEY.  435 

low  and  wet,  and  seemed  to  be  all  swamp.  The  drain- 
age was  in  surface  gutters,  and  in  them  the  water 
stood  nearly  still.  It  seemed  to  me  such  water  must 
have  yellow  fever  in  it. 

For  a  long  way  along  the  levee  the  steamboats  lay 
thick  and  close  together,  unloading  cotton,  hemp,  su- 
gar, hoop  poles,  bacon  and  other  products,  mostly  the 
product  of  negro  labor. 

Here  our  friend  Evans  was  taken  sick,  and  as  he 
got  no  better  after  a  day  or  two,  we  called  a  doctor  to 
examine  him.  He  pronounced  it  a  mild  case  of  yel- 
low fever.  His  skin  was  yellow  in  places,  and  he 
looked  ver}'  badly.  The  doctor  advised  us  to  go  on 
up  the  river,  saying  it  was  very  dangerous  staying 
here  with  him.  Evans  gave  me  most  of  his  money 
and  all  of  his  gold  specimens  to  take  to  his  wife,  and 
when  he  got  well  he  would  follow  us.  We  bade  him 
good-bye,  and  with  many  wishes  for  his  speedy  recov- 
ery, we  took  passage  on  a  steamer  for  St,  Louis. 
This  steamer,  the  Atlantic,  proved  to  be  a  real  float- 
ing palace  in  all  respects.  The  table  was  supplied 
with  everything  the  country  afforded,  and  polite  and 
well-dressed  darkies  were  numerous  as  table  waiters. 
This  was  the  most  pleasant  trip  I  had  ever  taken,  and 
I  could  not  help  comparing  the  luxuriance  of  my  com- 
ing home  to  the  hardships  of  the  outward  journey 
across  the  plains,  and  our  starvation  fare. 

Our  boat  was  rather  large  for  the  stage  of  water 
this  time  of  year,  and  we  proceeded  rather  slowly,  but 
I  cared  little  for  speed  as  bed  and  board  were  extra 
good,  and  a  first  cabin  passage  in  the  company  of 
friends,  many  of  whom  were  going  to  the  same  part 
of  Wisconsin  as  myself,  was  not  a  tedious  affair  by 
any  means. 

At  night  gambling  was  carried  on  very  extensively, 
and  monev  chanofed  hands  freelv  as  the  result  of  sun- 


436  DEATH  VAI.LEY. 

dry  o^ames  of  poker,  which    was    the   popular    game. 

We  reached  St.  Louis  in  time,  and  here  was  the  end 
of  our  boat's  run.  The  river  had  some  ice  floating 
on  its  surface,  and  this  plainly  told  us  that  we  were 
likely  to  meet  more  ice  and  colder  weather  as  we  went 
north.  We  concluded  to  take  the  Illinois  River  boat 
from  here  to  Peoria,  and  paid  our  passage  and  stepped 
on  board.  We  were  no  more  than  half  way  through 
this  trip  when  the  ice  began  to  form  on  the  surface  of 
the  water,  and  soon  became  so  thick  and  strong  that 
the  boat  finally  came  to  a  perfect  standstill,  frozen  in 
solid. 

We  now  engaged  a  farm  wagon  to  take  us  to  Peoria, 
from  which  place  we  took  regular  stages  for  Galena. 
Our  driver  was  inclined  to  be  very  merciful  to  his 
horses,  so  we  were  two  days  in  reaching  that  town, 
but  perhaps  it  was  best,  for  the  roads  were  icy  and 
slippery,  and  the  weather  of  the  real  winter  sort. 
From  here  we  hired  a  team  to  take  four  of  us  to  Platt- 
ville,  and  then  an  eighteen-mile  walk  brought  me  to 
Mineral  Point,  the  place  from  which  I  started  with 
my  Winnebago  pou}^  in  1849.'  I  had  now  finished  my 
circle  and  brought  both  ends  of  the  long  belt  together. 

I  now  went  to  a  drug  store  and  weighed  Mr.  Evans' 
specimens,  wrapping  each  in  a  separate  piece  of  paper, 
with  the  value  marked  on  each,  and  took  them  to  his 
wife,  to  whom  I  told  the  news  about  her  husband. 
In  two  week's  time  he  came  home  sound  and  well. 

I  was  quite  disappointed  in  regard  to  the  looks  and 
business  appearance  of  the  country.  It  looked  thinl}' 
settled,  people  scarce,  and  business  dull.  I  could  not 
get  a  day's  work  to  do,  and  I  could  not  go  much  far 
ther  on  foot,  for  the  snow  was  eight  or  ten  inches 
deep,  and  I  was  still  several  hundred  miles  from  m}' 
parents  in  Michigan.  So  my  journey  farther  east  was 
delayed  until  spring.     The  hunting  season  was  over, 


DEATH  VALLEY.  437 

and  when  I  came  into  Mineral  Point  without  a  gun, 
and  wore  good  clothes,  making  a  better  appearance 
than  I  used  to,  they  seemed  to  think  I  must  be  rich 
and  showed  me  marked  attention,  and  made  many 
inquiries  about  their  neighbors  who  started  for  Cali- 
fornia about  the  same  time  I  did.  The  young  ladies 
smiled  pleasantly  when  near  me,  and  put  on  their  best 
white  aprons,  looking  very  tidy  and  bright,  far  super- 
ior to  an)'  of  the  ladies  I  had  seen  in  my  crooked  route 
from  San  Francisco  through  Acapulco,  Panama,  the 
West  Indies  and  along  the  Mississippi. 

After  a  few  days  in  town  I  went  out  into  the  neigh- 
borhood where  I  used  to  live  and  stopped  with  Mr.  E. 
A.  Hall,  who  used  to  be  a  neighbor  of  Mr.  Bennett, 
as  he  had"  invited  me  to  stay  with  himself  and  wife, 
who  were  the  only  occupants  of  a  good  house,  and  all 
was  pleasant.  But  notwithstanding  all  the  comfort  in 
which  I  was  placed,  I  grew  lonesome,  for  the  enforced 
idleness,  on  account  of  the  stormy  weather,  was  a 
new  feature  in  my  life,  and  grew  terribly  monotonous. 

After  some  delay  I  concluded  to  write  to  my  parents 
in  Michigan  and  give  them  a  long  letter  with  some- 
thing of  a  history  of  my  travels,  and  to  refresh  my 
memory  I  got  out  my  memorandum  I  had  kept  through 
all  my  journe}'. 

As  my  letter  was  liable  to  be  quite  lengthy  I  bought 
a  quantity  of  foolscap  paper  and  begun.  I  took  my 
diary  as  my  guide,  and  filled  out  the  ideas  suggested 
in  it  so  they  would  understand  them.  I  soon  ran 
through  with  my  paper  and  bought  more,  and  kept  on 
writing.  Tne  weather  was  cold  and  stormy,  and  I 
found  it  the  best  occupation  I  could  have  to  prevent 
my  being  lonesome;  so  I  worked  away,  day  after  day, 
for  about  a  month,  and  I  was  really  cpiite  tired  of  this 
sort  of  woik  before  I  had  all  the  facts  recorded  which 
I  found  noted  down  in  my  di;iry.      My  notes  began  in 


438  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

March,  1849,  in  Wisconsin,  and  ended  in  February, 
1852,  on  my  return  to  Mineral  Point.  I  found,  as  the 
result  of  my  elaboration,  over  three  hundred  pages  of 
closely  written  foolscap  paper,  and  I  felt  very  much 
relieved  when  it  was  done.  By  the  aid  of  my  notes  I 
could  very  easily  remember  everything  that  had  taken 
place  during  my  absence,  and  it  was  recorded  in  reg- 
ular form,  with  day  and  date,  not  an  incident  of  any 
importance  left  out,  and  every  word  as  true  as  gospel. 
I  had  neither  exaggerated  nor  detracted  from  any 
event  so  far  as  I  could  recollect. 

I  now  loaned  Mr.  Hall,  with  whom  I  lived,  six  hun- 
dred dollars  to  enable  him  to  cross  the  plains  to  Cali- 
fornia and  try  to  make  his  fortune.  To  secure  this  I 
took  a  mortgage  on  his  eightv-acre  farm,  and  he  set 
out  to  make  the  journey.  I  had  another  eighty  acres 
of  land  near  here  which  I  bought  at  government  price 
before  going  to  California,  but  I  could  not  now  sell  it 
for  what  it  cost  me.  When  I  went  away  I  had  left 
my  chest  and  contents  with  ray  friend  Samuel  Zollin- 
ger, and  he  had  kept  it  safely,  so  I  now  made  him  my 
lawful  agent.  I  placed  my  narrative  and  some  other 
papers  in  the  ehest  and  gave  the  key  into  his  charge, 
while  I  went  north,  across  the  Wisconsin  River,  to 
visit  my  old  hunting  and  trapping  friend,  Robert  Mc 
Cloud.  Here  I  made  a  very  pleasant  visit  of  perhaps 
a  week,  and  the  common  prospects  of  the  country 
were  freely  talked  over.  It  seemed  to  us  as  if  the 
good  times  were  still  far  off;  every  day  was  like  Sun- 
day so  far  as  anything  going  on;  no  money  in  circula- 
tion, many  places  abandoned,  and,  like  myself,  many 
had  gone  to  California  to  seek  gold  instead  of  lead. 
(The  mines  at  Mineral  Point  are  mostly  of  lead,  with 
some  copper. ) 

Looking  at  matters  in  this  light  it  did  not  need  a 
great  deal  of  McCloud's  persuasion  to  induce  me  to  go 


DEATH  VALLEY.  439 

back  with  him  to  California,  all  the  more  so  as  my  lit- 
tle pile  seemed  to  look  smaller  every  day,  while  three 
or  four  years  ago  it  would  have  seemed  quite  large. 
Deciding  to  go,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Zollinger  to  send  the 
account  I  had  written  to  my  parents  in  Michigan, 
reading  it  first  himself,  and  admonishing  him  not  to 
lend  it.  I  also  wrote  to  my  parents  telling  them  what 
they  might  look  for  in  the  mails,  and  cautioning  them 
never  to  have  it  printed,  for  the  writing  was  so  un- 
gramniatical  and  the  spelling  so  incorrect  that  it 
would  be  no  credit  to  me. 

I  afterward  learned  that  in  time  they  received  the 
bundle  of  paper  and  read  it  through  and  through,  and 
circulated  it  around  the  neighborhood  till  it  was  badly 
worn,  and  laid  it  away  for  future  perusal  when  their 
minds  should  incline  that  way.  But  the  farm  house 
soon  after  took  fire  and  burned,  my  labor  going  up  in 
smoke. 

When  the  news  of  this  reached  me  1  resolved  to  try 
to  forget  all  the  trials,  troubles  and  hardships  I  had 
gone  through,  and  which  I  had  almost  lived  over 
again  as  I  wrote  them  down,  and  I  said  to  myself  that 
I  would  not  talk  about  them  more  than  I  could  help, 
the  sooner  to  have  them  vanish,  and  never  write  them 
down  again,  but  a  few  years  ago  an  accident  befell  me 
so  that  I  could  not  work,  and  I  back-slid  from  my  de- 
termination when  I  was  persuaded  so  earnestly  by 
many  friends  to  write  the  account  which  appeared  a 
few  years  ago  in  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  now  the  Pa- 
cific Tree  and  Vine,  edited  by  H.  A.  Brainard,  at  San 
Jose,  Calfornia.  The  diary  was  lost,  and  from  mem- 
ory alone  the  facts  have  been  rehearsed,  and  it  is  but 
fair  to  tell  the  reader  that  the  hardest  and  worst  of  it 
has  never  been  told  nor  will  it  ever  be. 


440  DEATH  VALLEY. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

McCloud  and  I  now  took  his  skiff,  and  for  two  days 
floated  down  the  Wisconsin  River  till  we  reached  the 
Mississippi,  boarded  the  first  steamboat  we  could  hail, 
and  let  our  own  little  craft  adrift.  In  due  time  we 
reached  St.  Louis  and  boarded  another  steamer  for 
New  Orleans. 

At  a  wood-yard,  about  dark,  a  lot  of  negroes,  little 
and  big,  came  on  board  to  sell  brooms.  The  boat's 
clerk  seemed  to  know  negro  character  prett}'  well,  .so 
he  got  out  his  violin  and  played  for  them.  For  a 
while  the  young  colored  gentry  listened  in  silence,  but 
pretty  soon  he  struck  a  tune  that  suited  them,  and 
they  began  to  dance  m  their  own  wild  style. 

In  seven  days  from  St.  Louis  we  landed  in  New  Or- 
leans, and  found  the  government  steamer,  Falcon, 
advertised  to  sail  in  two  days.  We  went  together  to 
one  of  the  slave  warehouses.  Outside  and  in  all  was 
neat  end  clean,  and  any  day  you  could  see  men, 
women  and  children  standing  under  the  shed  as  a 
sign  of  what  they  had  within,  and  the  painted  signs 
"For  Sale"  displayed  conspicuously.  We  were  very 
civilly  treated,  and  invited  to  examine  the  goods  of- 
fered for  sale.  There  were  those  of  all  ages  and  all 
colors,  for  some  were  nearly  white  and  some  intensely 
black,  with  all  the  shades  between.  All  were  to  be 
sold,  separately,  or  in  families,  or  in  groups  as  buyers 
might  desire.  All  were  -made  to  keep  themselves 
clean  and  neatly  dressed,  and  to  behave  well,  with  a 
smile  to  all  the  visitors  whether  they  felt  like  smiling 
or  not.  Some  seemed  really  anxious  to  get  a  good 
master,  and  when  a  kind,  pleasant  looking  man  came 
along  thev  would  do  their  utmost  to  be  agreeable  to 


DKATH  VALLEY.  44^ 

him  and  inquire  if  he  did  not  want  to  buy  them.  We 
talked  it  over  some  between  ourselves,  and  when  we 
thought  of  the  market  and  the  human  chattels  for  sale 
there,  McCloud  spoke  up  and  said: — "I  am  almost 
persuaded  to  be  an  abolitionist. ' ' 

I  now  went  on  board  the  steamer  Falcon,  in  com- 
mand of  a  government  officer,  to  try  to  learn  some- 
thing about  the  family  of  Capt.  Culverwell  who  per- 
ished alone  in  Death  \'alley.  He  told  me  he  had  once 
belonged  to  the  Navy  and  had  his  life  insured,  and  as 
I  was  an  important  witness  for  his  family  I  w  anted  to 
learn  where  they  lived.  The  Captain  looked  over  a 
list  of  officers,  but  Culverwell's  name  was  not  there. 
I  then  wrote  a  letter  to  Washington  stating  the  facts 
of  his  death,  and  my  own  address  in  Sacramento,  Cal- 
ifornia. I  also  stated  that  I  would  assist  the  widow 
if  I  could,  but  I  never  received  an  answer. 

We  soon  started  down  the  river,  having  on  board 
about  one  hundred  passengers,  men  going  to  work  on 
the  Panama  Railroad.  At  Chagres  we  found  a  small 
stern  wheeled  river  steamer  and  took  passage  on  it  for 
Gorgona,  as  far  as  the  steamer  could  well  go  up  the 
river.  While  going  up  we  met  a  similar  boat  coming 
down,  and  being  near  a  short  bend  they  crashed  to- 
gether, breaking  down  our  guards  severely,  but  for- 
tunately with  no  damage  to  our  wheel.  A  few  miles 
above  this  a  dark  passing  cloud  gave  us  rain  in 
streams,  and  we  had  to  drift  in  near  shore  to  wait  for 
the  storm  to  pass.  I  never  before  saw  water  fall  so 
fast,  and  yet  in  half  an  hour  the  sun  was  out  and 
burning  hot 

Before  we  reached  Gorgona  vve  got  acquainted  with 
a  man  named  John  Briggs  from  Wisconsin,  and  Lyman 
Ross  from  Rhode  Island,  and  concluded  to  travel  in 
company.  Our  fare  thus  far  was  ten  dollars,  and  two 
horses  to  Panama  for  which   we  paid    twelve    dollars 


442  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

each.  We  now  rode  and  walked  turn  about,  and 
when  we  inquired  about  the  road  we  were  told  that 
being  once  in  it  we  could  not  possibly  fet  out  except 
at  the  other  end,  and  would  need  no  guide,  and  at  the 
end  of  a  verj'  disagreeable  da3''s  work  we  reached  the 
big  gate  at  Panama  and  entered  the  ancient  city. 

We  waited  but  little  here  before  taking  the  steamer 
Southerner,  bound  for  San  Francisco.  Three  days 
after  we  sailed  awaj'  one  of  our  passengers  went  over- 
board, a  corpse,  and  three  or  four  more  died  and  were 
buried  alongside  before  we  reached  Acapulco. 

Here  we  took  on  water  and  coal  and  were  soon  at 
sea  again,  McCloud  soon  had  to  take  his  place  in  the 
sick  ward,  and  I  attended  him  most  of  the  time,  but 
was  not  allowed  to  give  him  anything  without  a  per- 
mit from  the  doctor,  and  the  long  delays  between  the 
administrations  of  medicine  made  the  sickness  hard  to 
endure.  The  sick  could  see  the  dead  sewed  up  in 
blankets  with  a  bucket  of  coal  for  a  weight;  then  rest- 
ing on  a  plank  with  sailors  on  each  side,  the  mate 
would  read  the  brief  services  appropriate  to  a  burial 
at  sea,  the  plank  was  tilted,  and  the  lifeless  body  slid 
down  into  the  depths.  Such  scenes  were  no  benefit 
to  the  suffering,  for  each  might  think  his  turn  was 
next,  when  a  bright  hope  and  prospect  would  be  bet- 
ter for  his  recover^^ 

One  forenoon  the  fire  gong  rang  out  sharply,  and 
all  was  in  confusion,  supposing  the  ship  to  be  on  fire, 
but  nothing  could  be  seen  but  a  dense  fog,  except  as  a 
gentle  wind  lifted  it  a  little  and  there,  dead  ahead,  was 
a  rocky  island,  against  which  it  seemed  we  must  dash 
to  destruction,  for  there  was  no  beach  and  very  little 
chance  for  any  one  to  be  saved.  Ten  minutes  more 
in  this  direction  and  we  were  lost,  but  the  officers 
quickly  changed  the  course,  and  we  passed  the  pile  of 
rocks  scarcely  a  rifle  shot  away.     Whose  fault  it  was, 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY.  443 

this  danger  so  miraculously  avoided,  we  did  not  know, 
the  captain 's  or  the  imperfect  chart,  and  opinions  were 
freely  given  both  ways. 

About  those  days  the  air  felt  cooler,  the  fog  less 
dense,  and  the  foggy  rain-bows  we  had  seen  so  much 
when  the  sun  tried  to  shine,  were  scarce,  while  a  more 
northern  wind  created  a  coolness  that  made  sick  folks 
feel  refreshed  and  hopeful.  It  gave  me  a  chance  to 
cheer  up  my  sick  friend  who  was  still  in  bed,  and  tell 
him  it  would  continue  to  be  cooler  as  we  went. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July  the  officers  produced  the 
ship's  full  supply  of  flags,  and  the  sailors  climbed  high 
and  low,  fastening  them  to  every  rope  till  we  had  a 
very  gay  Independence  day  cppearance.  In  this 
gay  dress  we  steamed  into  San  Diego  harbor  to  leave 
the  mail  for  a  few  soldiers  stationed  there,  and  get 
their  letters  in  leturn. 

I  could  see  no  town  in  San  Diego,  but  a  beautiful 
harbor,  and  some  poor  looking  mustard  wigwams 
some  way  off  seemed  to  contain  the  good  people  of 
that  place. 

A  boat  with  a  small  crew  pulled  out  and  came  along- 
side to  get  the  mail  and  deliver  theirs,  and  then  we 
turned  to  sea  again.  The  country  all  around  this 
beautiful  little  harbor  looked  mountainous  and  ex- 
tremely barren,  and  no  one  wanted  to  go  on  shore. 

About  dark  we  had  made  sufficient  offing  and  turned 
northward,  plowing  through  large  fields  of  kelp.  The 
next  morning  the  forward  watch  announced  land 
ahead,  which  could  dimly  be  seen  as  the  fog  rose. 
The  officers  rushed  on  deck  and  could  see  not  far 
ahead  a  sandy  beach,  and  a  moment  more  showed  that 
we  were  headed  directly  for  it,  and  that  it  was  not 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  awaj-.  Quicklj'  the 
helmsman  was  given  orders  to  steer  almost  west  in- 
stead of  the  north  course  he  had  been  following.      He 


444  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

was  asked  why  he  kept  on  his  north  course  when  he 
saw  danger  ahead,  and  answered: — "It  is  my  business 
to  steer  according  to  orders,  even  if  the  ship  goes 
ashore,  and  I  can  not  change  course  unless  ordered 
to. ' '  The  Captain  now  examined  his  chart  and  de- 
cided he  was  in  San  Pedro  harbor,  off  Los  Angeles. 

'The  sun  came  out  bright  and  clear  a  little  later,  and 
I  got  McCloud  out  of  his  bed  and  gave  him  a  seat  at 
the  ship's  side  where  he  could  see  the  green  grass)' 
hills  near  the  beach,  and  larger  hills  and  mountains 
farther  back.  We  could  see  cattle  feeding  in  the  near- 
est pastures,  and  the  whole  scene  was  a  pleasant  one; 
and  as  we  sat  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  ship  and 
snuffed  the  cool  breeze  which  came  from  the  north, 
we  thought  we  were  comparatively  happy  people,  and 
hoped  that,  if  no  accident  befell,  we  would  soon  be  at 
the  end  of  our  voyage. 

On  the  seventh  day  of  July,  1851,  we  entered  the 
Golden  Gate,  this  being  my  second  arrival  in  Califor- 
nia. On  our  trip  from  Panama  seven  or  more  had 
died  and  been  buried  at  sea,  but  the  remainder  of  us 
were  quite  safe  and  sound.  We  found  the  heart  ol 
the  city  still  smoking,  for  a  fire  had  broken  out  on 
July  fourth  and  burned  extensively,  and  these  broad, 
blackened  ruins  were  the  result.  Some  said  the  work 
had  been  done  by  the  Sidney  "ducks"  and  their  nu- 
merous helpers,  who  were  reahy  the  rulers  of  the  city. 
The  i^lace  now  looked  much  worse  than  it  did  w^hen  I 
left  in  November  before.  These  Sidney  "ducks"  were 
Englisli  convicts  from  Australia,  and  other  thieves  and 
robbers  jomed  them  as  agreeable  companion,  making 
a  large  class  that  seemed  to  gloiy  in  destruction  and  a 
chance  for  boot3\ 

I  walked  around  over  the  hills  where  I  could  see  the 
burned  district  and  the  destruction  of  so  much  valu- 
able property,  and  when  I  thought  the  civil  law    w-as 


DEATH  VALLEY.  445 

not  strong  enough  to  govern,  it  vSeemed  to  me  it  would 
be  a  good  place  for  such  men  as  the  Helms  brothers  of 
Georgetown  to  come  down  and  do  a  little  hanging 
business,  for  the}-  could  here  find  plenty  to  do,  and 
they  could  carry  out  their  plan  of  letting  no  guilty 
man  escape. 

About  four  o'clock  one  afternoon  we  went  aboard 
the  Sacramento  steamer,  Antelope,  paying  our  passage 
with  half  an  ounce  apiece,  and  were  soon  on  our  way 
past  the  islands  and  up  the  bay.  When  we  were  be- 
yond Benicia,  where  the  river  banks  were  close,  Mc 
Cloud  sat  watching  the  shore,  and  remarked  that  the 
boat  ran  like  a  greyhound,  and  it  seemed  to  him,  beat 
the  old  ocean  steamer  pretty  bad. 

He  seemed  to  be  nearly  well  again,  and  compli- 
mented me  as  the  best  doctor  he  ever  saw.  Since 
he  had  been  sick  I  had  i)aid  him  all  the  attention  I 
could,  and  he  gave  me  all  the  praise  I  deserved,  now 
that  he  was  getting  to  feel  himself  again. 

At  Sacramento  we  changed  to  another  boat  bound 
for  Mar^sville,  which  place  we  reached  without  spec- 
ial incident.  Here  we  invested  in  a  four-ounce  don- 
kev,  that  is,  we  paid  four  ounces  of  gold  for  him,  just 
an  ounce  apiece  for  four  of  us — W.  L.  Manley,  Robert 
McCloud,  Lyman  Ross  and  John  Briggs.  We  piled 
our  blankets  in  a  pack  upon  the  gentle,  four-ounce 
donkey,  and  added  a  little  tea  and  coffee,  dried  beef 
and  bread,  then  started  for  the  Yuba  River,  ourselves 
on  foot.  We  crossed  the  river  at  Park's  Bar,  then 
went  up  the  lidge  by  way  of  Nigger  Tent,  came  down 
to  the  river  again  at  Goodyear  Bar,  then  up  the  stream 
to  Downieville.  This  town  was  named  after  John 
Downie,  a  worthless  drunkard.  I  lemeniber  that  he 
once  reformed,  but  again  back-slid  and  died  a  drunk- 
ard's death. 

We  found  this  a  lively  mining   town    about   sixty 


446  DEATH  VALLEY. 

miles  above  Marysville,  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Yuba 
River,  and  only  reached  by  a  pack  trail,  but  every- 
thing was  flush  here,  even  four  aces.  The  location 
was  a  veritable  Hole-in-the-Ground,  for  the  mountains 
around  were  very  high,  and  some  of  them  wore  their 
caps  of  snow  all  summer,  particularly  those  on  the 
east.  The  gold  dust  we  found  here  was  coarser  than 
it  was  where  I  worked  before,  down  south  on  the  Mer- 
ced River.  Before  I  came  to  California  I  always  sup- 
posed that  gold  dust  was  really  dust,  and  about  as  fine 
as  flour. 

We  went  up  the  North  Fork  about  a  mile  or  two 
above  town  and  camped  on  Wisconsin  Flat  to  begin 
our  mining  operations.  Our  luck  was  poor  at  first, 
and  all  except  myself  were  out  of  money,  and  more  or 
less  in  debt  to  me.  We  nade  expenses,  however, 'and 
a  little  more,  and  as  soon  as  Mr.  Ross  got  his  small 
debt  paid  he  said  he  was  discouraged  mining,  and  with 
blankets  on  his  shoulders  started  up  the  trail  towards 
Galloway's  ranch,  on  the  summit  south  of  town.  Mr. 
Ross  said  the  work  was  too  hard  for  him,  for  he  was 
not  strong  enough  to  handle  pick  and  shovel,  and  he 
believed  he  could  go  down  to  Sacramento  and  make 
more  by  his  wits  than  he  could  here.  I  went  with 
him  to  town  and  saw  him  start  off  with  a  fair  load  on 
his  back,  and  watched  him  as  he  toiled  up  the  steep 
mountain  trail  for  about  two  miles,  when  he  went  out 
of  sight. 

The  rest  of  us  kept  on  mining.  Our  luck  was  not 
very  good,  but  we  persevered,  for  there  was  nothing 
to  be  gained  by  fainting  by  the  way.  I  went  into  an 
old  abandoned  shaft  about  ten  feet  deep  and  found  the 
bottom  filled  with  a  big  quartz  boulder,  and  as  I  had 
been  a  lead  miner  in  Wisconsin,  I  began  drifting,  and 
soon  found  bed  rock,  when  I  picked  up  a  piece  of  pure 
gold  that  weighed   four   ounces.     This    was   what    I 


DEATH  VALLEY.  447 

called  a  pretty  big  find,  and  not  exactly  what  I  called 
gold  dusi.  It  was  quite  a  surprise  to  me,  for  the 
gravel  on  the  bed  rock  was  only  about  three  or  four 
inches  thick. 

We  kept  on  drifting  for  some  time,  sometimes  mak- 
ing good  wages,  and  on  the  whole  so  satisfactory  that 
we  concluded  to  stay.  We  now  located  some  claims 
back  in  the  flat  where  the  ground  would  be  thirty  feet 
deep,  and  would  have  to  be  drifted.  These  we  man- 
aged to  hold  until  winter,  and  in  the  meantime  we 
worked  along  the  river  and  could  make  something  all 
the  time. 

We  put  in  a  flume  between  two  falls  on  the  Middle 
Fork,  but  made  only  wages,  and  I  got  my  arm  nearly 
broken,  and  had  to  work  with  one  hand  for  nearly  a 
month. 

One  afternoon  I  went  crevicing  up  the  river,  and 
found  a  crevice  at  the  water's  edge  about  half  an  inch 
wide,  and  the  next  day  we  w^orked  it  out  getting  forty 
ounces,  and  many  of  the  pieces  were  about  an  inch 
long  and  as  large  around  as  a  pipe-stem. 

Winter  was  now  near  by,  and  we  set  to  work  to 
build  a  cabin  and  lay  in  a  stock  of  grub,  which  cost 
quite  a  good  deal,  for  the  self-raising  flour  which  we 
bought  was  worth  twenty  cents  a  pound,  and  all  kinds 
of  hog  meat  fifty  cents,  with  other  supplies  in  propor- 
tion. Our  new  claims  now  paid  very  well.  Snow 
came  down  to  the  depth  of  about  four  feet  around  our 
cabin,  but  as  our  work  was  under  ground,  we  had  a 
comfortable  place  all  winter. 

In  the  spring  McCloud  and  I  went  to  Sacramento 
and  sold  our  chunks  of  gold  (it  was  all  very  coarse) 
to  Page,  Bacon  &  Co.  who  were  themselves  surprised 
at  the  coarseness  of  the  whole  lot.  When  our  savings 
were  weighed  up  we  found  we  had  made  half  an  ounce 
B  day,  clear  of  all  expenses,  for  the  entire  year. 


448  DEATH  VAI.LEY 

Wc  now  took  a  little  run  down  to  San  Francisco, 
also  to  SaiTrta  Clara  where  we  staid  a  night  or  two 
with  Mr.  McCloud's  friend,  Mr.  Otterson,  and  then 
went  back  to  our  claims  again.  In  taking  care  of  our 
money  we  had  to  be  our  own  bankers,  and  the  usual 
way  was  to  put  the  slugs  we  received  for  pay  into  a 
gallon' pickle  jar,  and  bury  this  in  some  place  known 
only  to  our  particular  selves,  and  these  vaults  we  con- 
sidered perfectly  safe.  The  slugs  were  fifty  dollar 
pieces,  coined  for  convenience,  and  were  eight-sided, 
heavy  pieces.  In  the  western  counties  the  people 
called  them  "Adobies,"  but  among  the  miners  they 
were  universally  known  as   '  'Slugs. ' ' 

The  winter  proved  a  little  lonesome,  the  miners 
mostly  staid  at  home  and  worked.  During  the  year 
we  had  been  here  I  had  not  seen  a  respectable  woman 
in  this  mining  country.  There  were  few  females  here, 
and  they  were  said  to  be  of  very  doubtful  character. 
As  a  general  thing  people  were  very  patient  with  their 
wickedness,  but  not  alwa5^s. 

Twice  only  in  the  history  of  California  were  women 
made'the  victims  of  mob  violence,  once  at  L,os  Angeles 
and  once  at  Downieville.  The  affair  at  che  last-named 
place  occurred  in  1851,  and  the  victim  was  a  pretty 
little  Spanish  woman  named  Juanita.  She  and  her 
husband,  like  many  another  couple  at  that  time,  kept 
a  monte  game  for  the  delectation  of  the  miners  who 
had  more  money  than  sense,  but  beyond  this  fact  ab- 
solutely nothing  was  said  against  her  character. 

There  was  an  English  miner  named  Cannon  living 
in  town,  who  was  very  popular  among  a  large  number 
of  gamblers  and  others.  He  got  drunk  one  night  and 
about  midnight  went  to  the  house  occupied  by  the 
Spanish  woman  and  her  husband  and  kicked  the  door 
down.  Early  the  following  morning  he  told  his  com 
rades  that  he  was  going  to  apologize  to  the  woman  for 


DEATH  VAT.IvEY.  449 

what  he  had  done.  He  went  alone  to  the  house,  and, 
while  talking  with  the  husband  and  wife,  the  woman 
suddenly  drew  a  knife  and  stabbed  Cannon  to  the 
heart.  What  had  been  said  that  provoked  the  deed 
was  never  known,  further  than  that  Juarita  claimed 
she  had  been  grossly  insulted. 

She  was  given  a  mock  trial,  but  the  facts  of  the  case 
were  not  brought  out,  as  the  men  who  were  with  Can- 
non were  too  drunk  to  remember  what  had  happened 
the  previous  night.  It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
the  poor  woman  was  to  be  hanged,  and  the  leaders  of 
the  mob  would  brook  no  interference.  A  physician 
examined  Juanita  and  announced  to  the  mob  that  she 
was  in  a  condition  that  demanded  the  highest  sympa- 
thy of  every  man,  but  he  was  forced  to  flee  from  town 
to  save  his  life.  A  prominent  citizen  made  an  appeal 
for  mercy,  but  he  was  driven  down  the  main  street 
and  across  the  river  by  a  mob  with  drawn  revolvers, 
and  with  threats  of  instant  death.  The  well-known 
John  B.  Weller  was  in  town  at  the  time,  and  was 
asked  to  reason  with  the  mob,  but  refused  to  do  so. 

The  execution  was  promptly  carried  out.  A  plank 
was  put  across  the  supports  of  the  bridge  over  the 
Yuba,  and  a  rope  fastened  to  a  beam  overhead.  Juan- 
ita went  calmly  to  her  death  She  wore  a  Panama 
hat,  and  after  mounting  the  platform  she  removed  it, 
tossed  it  to  a  friend  in  the  crowd,  whose  nickname 
was  "Oregon,"  with  the  remark,  "Adios  amigo. " 
Then  she  adjusted  the  noose  to  her  own  neck,  raising 
her  long,  loose  tresses  carefully  in  order  to  fix  the 
rope  firmly  in  its  place,  and  then,  with  a  smile  and 
wave  of  her  hand  to  the  bloodthirsty  crowd  present, 
she  stepped  calmly  from  the  plank  into  eternity.  Sin- 
gular enough,  her  body  rests  side  by  side,  in  the  cem- 
etery on  the  hill,  with  that  of  the  man  whose  life  she 
had  taken. 


450  DEATH  VALLEY. 

On  Sunda5'S  Dowiiieville  was  full  of  men,  none  very 
old,  and  none  very  young,  but  almcst  every  one  of 
middle  age.  Nearly  every  man  was  coarsely  dressed, 
with  beard  unshaved  and  many  with  long  hair,  but  on 
any  occasion  of  excitement  it  was  not  at  all  strange  to 
see  the  coarsest,  roughest  looking  one  of  all  the  party 
mount  a  stump  and  deliver  as  eloquent  an  address  as 
one  could  wish  to  hear.  On  Sunday  it  was  not  at  all 
unusual  for  some  preacher  to  address  the  moving 
crowd,  while  a  few  feet  behind  him  would  be  a  saloon 
in  full  blast,  and  drinking,  gambling,  swearing  and 
vulgar  language  could  be  plainly  seen  and  heard  at 
the  same  time,  and  this  class  of  people  seemed  to  re- 
spect the  Sunday  preacher  very  little.  The  big  saloon 
was  owned  by  John  Craycroft,  formerly  a  mate  on  a 
Mississippi  River  steamboat,  who  gained  most  of  his 
money  by  marrying  a  Spanish  woman  and  making  her 
a  silent  partner. 

One  enterprising  man  who  was  anxious  to  make 
money  easily,  took  a  notion  to  try  his  luck  in  trade, 
so,  as  rats  and  mice  were  troublesome  in  shops  and 
stores,  he  went  down  to  the  valley  and  brought  up  a 
cargo  of  cats  which  he  dis]-)Osed  of  at  prices  varying 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  dollars  each,  according  to 
the  buyer's  fanc5\ 

During  the  summer  Kelley  the  fiddler  came  up  in 
the  mines  to  make  a  raise,  and  Craycroft  made  him  a 
pulpit  about  ten  feet  above  the  floor  in  his  saloon,  hav- 
ing him  to  play  nights  and  Sundays  at  twenty  dollars 
per  da3\  He  was  a  big  uneducated  Irishman,  who 
could  neither  read  nor  write,  but  he  played  and  sang 
and  talked  the  rich  Irish  brogue,  all  of  wnich  brought 
many  customers  to  the  bar.  In  the  saloon  could  be 
seen  all  sorts  of  people  dealing  different  games,  and 
some  were  said  to  be  preachers.  Kelley  staid  here  as 
long  as  he  could  live  on  his  salary,  and  left  town  much 


DEATH  VALLEY,  45 1 

in  debt,  for  whiskey  and    cards    got    all   his    money. 

One  of  the  grocers  kept  out  a  sign,  "CHEAP  JOHN, 
THE  PACKER,"  and  kept  a  mule  to  deliver  goods, 
which  no  other  merchant  did,  and  in  this  way  gained 
many  friends,  and  many  now  may  praise  the  enterprise 
of  Cheap  John,  the  Packer.  Prices  were  pretty  high 
in  those  days.  Sharpening  picks  cost  fifty  cents,  a 
drink  of  whiskey  one  dollar,  and  all  kinds  of  pork, 
fifty  cents  per  pound.  You  could  get  meals  at  the 
McNutty  house  for  one  dollar.  The  faro  and  monte 
banks  absorbed  so  much  of  the  small  change  that  on 
one  occasion  I  had  to  pay  five  dollars  for  a  two  dollar 
pair  of  pants  in  order  to  get  a  fifty  dollar  slug  changed. 

No  white  rhirts  were  worn  by  honest  men,  and  if 
any  man  appeared  in  such  a  garment  he  was  at  once 
set  down  as  a  gambler,  and  with  very  little  chance  of 
a  mistake.  One  Langdon  had  the  only  express  office, 
and  brought  letters  and  packages  from  Sacramento. 
I  paid  one  dollar  simply  to  get  my  name  on  his  letter 
list,  and  when  a  letter  came  I  had  to  pay  one  dollar 
for  bringing  it  up,  as  there  was  no  Post  Office  at 
Downieville. 

Newspapers  were  eagerly  sought  for,  such  was  the 
hunger  for  reading.  The  Western  folks  l)Ought  the 
St.  Louis  papers,  while  Eastern  people  found  the  New 
York  Tribune  a  favorite.  One  dollar  each  for  such 
papers  was  the  regular  price.  It  may  seem  strange, 
but  aside  from  the  news  we  got  from  an  occasional 
newspaper,  I  did  not  hear  a  word  from  the  P^ast  dur- 
ing the  two  years  I  remained  on  Yuba  river.  Our 
evenings  were  spent  in  playing  cards  for  amusement, 
for  no  reading  could  be  got.  The  snow  betiveen 
Marysville  and  Downieville  was  dee])  and  impassable 
in  winter,  but  we  could  work  cur  drifting  claims  very 
comfortably,  having  laid  in  a  stock  of  provisions  early 
in  the   season,  before   snowfall.     The  nights  seemed 


254  DEATH  VALLEY. 

tediously  long  and  lonesome,  for  when  the  snow  was 
deep  no  one  came  to  visit  us,  and  we  could  go  no- 
where, being  completely  hemmed  in.  All  the  miners 
who  did  not  have  claims  they  could  work  underground, 
went  down  below  the  winter  snow-line  to  find  work, 
and  when  the  snow  went  off  came  back  again  and  took 
posession  of  the  old  claims  they  had  left. 

After  the  snow  went  off  three  German  sailors  came 
up  and.  took  a  river  claim  a  short  distance  above  us  on 
a  north  fork  of  the  north  fork  of  the  stream,  where  one 
side  of  the  cation  was  perpendicular  and  the  other 
sloped  back  only  slightly.  Here  they  put  logs  across 
the  river,  laid  stringers  on  these,  and  covered  the  bot- 
tom with  fir  boughs.  Then  they  put  stakes  at  the 
sides  and  rigged  a  canvas  flume  over  their  bridge 
through  which  they  turned  the  whole  current  of  the 
river,  leaving  a  nearly  dry  bed  beneath.  This  we 
called  pretty  good  engineering  and  management  on 
the  part  of  the  sailor  boys,  for  no  lumber  was  to  be 
had,  and  they  had  made  themselves  masters  of  the  sit- 
uation with  the  material  on  hand. 

They  went  to  work  under  their  log  aqueduct,  and 
found  the  claim  very  rich  in  coarse  gold.  The}-  went 
to  town  every  Saturday  night  with  good  big  bags  of 
dust,  and  as  they  were  open-hearted  fellows,  believing 
that  a  sailor  always  has  the  best  of  luck,  they  played 
cards  freely,  always  betting  on  the  Jack  and  Queen, 
and  spent  their  money  more  easily  than  they  earned  it. 
They  were  quite  partial  to  the  ladies,  and  patronizing 
the  bar  and  card  tables  as  liberally  as  they  did,  usually 
returned  to  camp  on  Monday  or  Tuesday  with  a  mule 
load  of  grub  and  whiskey  as  all  the  visible  proceeds  of 
a  week's  successful  mining;  but  when  Saturda}^  night 
came  around  again  we  were  pretty  sure  to  see  the  joU}^ 
sailors  going  past  with  heavy  bags  of  gold.  They  left 
one  nearly  pure  piece  of  gold  at    Langdon's  Express 


UKATH  VALLEY.  453 

ofl&ce  that  weighed  five  pounds,  and  another  as  large 
as  a  man's  hand,  of  the  shape  of  a  prickly  pear  leaf. 

They  worked  their  claim  with  good  success  until 
the  snow  water  came  down  and  forced  them  out.  I 
went  one  day  to  see  them,  and  they  took  a  pan  of  dirt 
from  behind  a  big  rock  and  washed  it  out,  getting  as 
much  as  two  teacupfuls  of  nuggets,  worth  perhaps  a 
thousand  dollars.  When  they  went  away  they  said 
they  would  go  to  Germany  to  see  their  poor  relatives 
and  friends,  and  one  of  them  really  went  home,  but 
the  other  two  had  spent  all  their  money  before  they 
were  ready  to  leave  San  Francisco.  These  men  were, 
without  doubt,  the  inventors  of  the  canvas  flume 
which  was  afterward  used  so  successfully  in  various 
places. 

While  I  was  still  here  the  now  famous  Downieville 
Butte  quartz  mine  was  discovered,  but  there  was  no 
way  then  of  working  quartz  successfully,  and  just  at 
that  time  very  little  was  done  with  it,  but  afterward, 
when  it  was  learned  how  to  work  it,  and  the  proper 
machinery  introduced,  it  yielded  large  sums  of  bullion. 

The  miners  had  a  queer  way  of  calling  every  man 
by  some  nickname  or  other  instead  of  his  true  name, 
and  no  one  seemed  offended  at  it,  but  answered  to  his 
new  name  as  readily  as  to  any. 

It  was  nearly  fall  when  we  found  we  had  worked 
our  claims  out,  and  there  were  no  new  ones  we  could 
locate  here,  so  we  concluded  to  go  prospecting  for  a 
new  locality.  I  bought  a  donkey  in  town  of  a  Mr. 
Hawley,  a  merchant,  for  which  I  paid  sixty  dollars, 
and  gave  the  little  fellow  his  old  master's  name.  We 
now  had  two  animals,  and  we  packed  on  them  our 
worldly  goods,  and  started  south  up  the  mountain 
trail  by  way  of  the  city  of  six,  where  some  half  dozen 
men  had  located  claims,  but  the  ground  was  dry  and 
deep,  so  we  went  on. 


454  DEATH  VALLEY. 

We  still  went  south,  down  toward  the  middle  Yuba 
Qiver,  and  when  about  half  way  down  the  mountain 
side  came  to  a  sort  of  level  bench  where  some  miners 
were  at  work,  but  hardly  any  water  could  be  had- 
They  called  this  Minnesota.  We  stayed  here  a  day 
or  two,  but  as  there  seemed  to  be  no  possible  further 
development  of  water,  concluded  to  go  on  further. 
Across  the  river  we  could  see  a  little  flat,  very  similar 
to  the  one  w^e  were  oti,  and  a  little  prospecting  seemed 
to  have  been  done  on  the  side  of  the  mountain.  We 
had  a  terribly  steep  canon  to  cross,  and  a  river  also, 
with  no  trail  to  follow,  but  our  donkeys  were  as  good 
climbers  as  any  of  us,  so  we  started  down  the  mount- 
ain in  the  morning,  and  arrived  at  the  river  about 
noon.  Here  we  rested  an  hour  or  two  and  then  began 
climbing  the  brushy  mountain  side.  The  hill  was 
very  steep,  and  the  sun  beat  down  on  us  with  all  his 
heat,  so  that  with  our  hard  labor  and  the  absence  of 
any  wind  we  found  it  a  pretty  hot  place. 

It  was  pretty  risky  traveling  in  some  places,  and 
we  had  to  help  the  donkeys  to  keep  them  from  rolling 
down  the  hill,  pack  and  all.  It  took  us  four  hours  to 
make  a  mile  and  a  half  or  two  miles  in  that  dense 
brush,  and  we  were  nearly  choked  when  we  reached 
the  little  flat.  Here  we  found  some  water,  but  no  one 
lived  here.  From  here  we  could  see  a  large  flat  across 
a  deep  canon  to  the  west,  and  made  up  our  minds  to 
try  to  go  to  it.  We  went  around  the  head  of  the 
canon,  and  worked  through  the  brush  and  fallen  tim- 
ber, reaching  our  objective  point  just  as  night  was 
coming  on.  This  flat,  like  the  one  we  had  left,  was 
quite  level,  and  contained,  perhaps,  nearh'  one  hun- 
dred acres.  Here  we  found  two  men  at  work  with  a 
"long  tom" — a  Mr.  Fernay  and  a  Mr.  Bloat.  The}- 
had  brought  the  water  of  a  small  spring  ti  their  claim 
and  were  making  five  or  six    dollars    per    da3^     We 


DEATH  VALLEY.  455 

now  prospected  around  the  edge  of  this  flat,  and  get- 
ting pretty  fair  prospects  concluded  we  would  locate 
here  if  we  could  get  water. 

We  then  began  our  search  for  water  and  found  a 
spring  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  away,  to  which 
we  laid  claim,  and  with  a  triangle  level  began  to  sur- 
vey out  a  route  for  our  ditch.  The  survey  was  satis- 
factory, and  we  found  we  could  bring  the  water  out 
high  on  the  flat,  so  we  set  to  work  digging  at  it,  and 
turned  the  water  in.  The  ground  was  so  very  dry 
that  all  the  water  soaked  up  within  two  hundred  yards 
of  the  spring. 

By  this  time  we  were  out  of  grub,  and  some  one 
must  go  for  a  new  supply,  and  as  we  knew  the  trail 
to  Downieville  was  terribly  rough,  I  was  chosen  as 
the  one  to  try  to  find  Nevada  City,  which  we  thought 
would  be  nearer  and  more  easily  reached.  So  I  started 
south  with  the  donkeys,  up  the  mountain  toward  the 
ridge  which  lies  between  the  middle  and  south  Yuba 
Rivers,  and  when  I  got  well  on  the  ridge  1  found  a 
trail  used  some  by  wagons,  which  I  followed  till  I 
came  to  a  place  where  the  ridge  was  only  wide  enough 
for  a  wagon,  and  at  the  west  end  a  faint  trail  turned 
off  south  into  the  rolling  hilis.  I  thought  this  went 
about  the  course  I  wanted  to  go,  so  I  followed  it,  and 
after  two  or  three  miles  came  to  the  south  Yuba  river. 
This  seemed  to  be  an  Indian  trail,  no  other  signs  on 
it.  I  climbed  the  mountain  here,  and  when  I  reached 
the  top  I  found  a  large  tent  made  of  blue  drilling,  and 
here  I  found  I  was  four  or  five  miles  from  Nevada 
City  with  a  good  trail  to  follow.  The  rolling  hills  I 
then  passed  through  are  now  called  North  Bloomfield, 
and  at  one  time  were  known  as  "Humbug." 

1  started  along  the  trail  and  soon  reached  the  citv 
where  I  drove  my  donkeys  up  to  a  store  which  had 
out  the  sign  "Davis  &  Co..  "     I  entered  and  inquiring 


456  DEATH  VALLEY. 

the  prices  of  various  sorts  of  provisions  such  as  flour, 
bacon,  beans,  butter,  etc.,  soon  had  selected  enough 
for  two  donke}^  loads.  They  assisted  me  in  putting 
them  in  pack,  and  when  it  was  ready  I  asked  the 
amount  of  mv  bill,  which  was  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  This  I  paid  at  once,  and  they  gave  me  some 
crackers  and  dried  beef  for  lunch  on  the  way.  Davis 
said — "That  is  the  quickest  sale  I  ever  made,  and  here 
the  man  is  ready  to  go.  I  defy  any  one  to  beat  it." 
Before  sun  down  I  was  two  or  three  miles  on  my  way 
back  where  I  found  some  grass  and  camped  for  the 
night,  picketed  the  animals,  ate  some  of  Mr.  Davis' 
grub  for  supper,  and  arranged  a  bed  of  saddle  blank- 
ets.    I  arrived  at  camp  the  next  day  about  sun  down. 

Next  day  I  went  on  up  the  divide  and  found  a  house 
on  the  trail  leading  farther  east,  where  two  men  lived, 
but  they  seemed  to  be  doing  nothing.  There  were  no 
mines  and  miners  near  there,  and  there  seemed  to  be 
very  little  travel  on  the  trail.  The  fellows  looked 
rough,  and  I  suspected  they  might  be  bad  characters. 
The  stream  they  lived  near  was  afterward  called 
Bloody  Run,  and  there  were  stories  current  that  blood 
had  been  shed  there. 

Here  was  a  section  of  comparatively  level  land,  for 
the  mountain  divide,  and  a  fine  spring  of  good  cold 
water,  all  surrounded  by  several  hundred  acres  of  the 
most  magnificent  sugar  pines  California  ever  raised, 
very  large,  straight  as  a  candle,  and  one  hundred  feet 
or  more  to  the  lowest  limbs.  This  place  was  after- 
ward called  Snow  Tent,  and  S.  W.  Churchill  built  a 
sawmill  at  the  spring,  and  had  all  this  fine  timber  at 
the  mercy  of  his  ax  and  saw,  without  anyone  to  dis- 
pute his  right.  He  furnished  lumber  to  the  miners  at 
fifiy  dollars  or  more  per  thousand  feet.  Bloody  Run 
no  doubt  well  deserves  its  name,  for  there  was  much 
talk  of  killing  done  there. 


DKATH  VALLEY.  457 

I,  however,  went  itp  and  talked  to  the  men  and 
told  them  I  wished  to  hire  a  cross  cut  saw  for  a  few 
days  to  get  out  stuff  for  a  cabin,  and  agreed  to  pay 
two  dollars  a  day  for  the  use  of  it  till  it  came  back. 

We  cut  down  a  large  sugar  pine,  cut  off  four  six 
feet  cuts,  one  twelve  feet,  and  one  sixteen  feet  cut, 
and  from  these  we  split  out  a  lot  of  boards  which  we 
used  to  make  a  V-shaped  flume  which  we  placed  in 
our  ditch,  and  thus  got  the  water  through.  We  split 
the  longer  cuts  into  two  inch  plank  for  sluice  boxes, 
and  made  a  small  reservoir,  so  that  we  succeeded  in 
working  the  ground.  We  paid  wages  to  the  two  men 
who  worked,  and  two  other  men  who  were  with  us 
went  and  built  a  cabin. 

I  now  went  and  got  another  load  of  provisions,  and 
as  the  snow  could  be  seen  on  tbe  high  mountains  to 
the  east,  I  thought  the  deer  must  be  crowded  down  to 
our  country,  so  I  went  out  hunting  and  killed  a  big 
fat  buck,  and  the  next  da}-  three  more,  so  fresh  meat 
was  plenty. 

About  this  time  a  man  came  down  the  mountain 
with  his  oxen  and  wagon,  wife  and  three  or  four  chil- 
dren, the  eldest  a  young  lady  of  fifteen  years.  The 
man's  name  was  H.  M.  Moore.  We  had  posted  not- 
ices, according  to  custom,  to  make  mining  laws,  and 
had  quite  a  discussion  about  a  name  for  the  place. 
Some  of  the  fellows  wanted  to  name  it  after  the  young 
lady,  "Minda's  Flat,"  but  we  finally  chose  "Moore's 
Flat"  instead,  which  I  believe  is  the  name  it  still  goes 
by.  Our  laws  were  soon  completed,  and  a  recorder 
chosen  to  record  claims.  We  gave  Mr.  Moore  the 
honor  of  having  a  prospecting  town  named  after  him 
because  he  was  the  first  man  to  be  on  hand  with  a 
wife. 

I  became  satisfied  after  a  little  that  this  place  would 
be  a  very  snowy  place,   and  that  from  all  appearances 


458  DEATH  VALLEY. 

it  would  fall  from  two  to  four  feet  deep,  and  not  a 
verj  pleasant  place  to  winter  in.  An  honest  acquain- 
tance of  mine  came  along,  Samuel  Tyler  and  to  him 
il  let  my  claim  to  work  on  shares  and  made  McCloud 
ray  agent,  verbally,  while  I  took  my  blankets  and 
started  for  the  valley. 

The  first  town  I  passed  through  was  a  newly  dis- 
covered mining  town  called  French  Corral.  Here  I 
found  an  old  Wisconsin  friend  Wm,  Sublet,  the  foster 
father  of  the  accomplishen  wife  of  Mayor  S.  \V.  Boring 
of  San  Jose.  From  here  I  went  to  Marysville.  The 
storm  had  been  raging  high  in  the  mountains  for  some 
days,  and  the  Yuba  river  rising  fast,  overflowing  its 
banks  as  I  walked  into  town,  and  the  next  day  the 
merchants  were  very  busy  piling  their  goods  above 
high  water  mark.  I  went  to  a  hotel  and  called  for  a 
bed.  "Yes,"  says  the  landlord  "Is  your  name  John 
or  Peter?"  I  told  him  William,  which  he  set  down  in 
his  book  and  we  went  up  siairs  to  the  best  room 
which  was  fitted  up  with  berths  three  tiers  high  on 
each  side,  and  only  one  or  two  empty  ones.  He  look- 
ed around  for  covers,  but  none  could  be  found  un- 
occupied, but  one  fellow  who  was  sound  asleep  and 
snoring  awfully,  so  he  took  the  blanket  oif  from  him 
saying:  "He  wont  know  a  thing  about  it  til)  morn- 
ing, bejabers,  so  don't  say  a  word." 

Next  morning  the  river  was  booming,  its  surface 
covered  with  all  sorts  of  mining  outfit  such  as  flume 
timber,  rockers,  various  qualities  of  lumber,  pieces  of 
trees  as  well  as  whole  ones,  water  wheels  and  other 
traps.  The  river  between  Downieville  and  here  must 
have  been  swept  clean  of  all  inaterial  that  would  float, 
including  "long  Toms.  "  The  water  continued  to  rise 
till  it  covered  the  Plaza,  and  in  two  daj'S  a  steamer 
came  up  and  sailed  across  the  public  square.  This 
looked  like  a  wet   season    to    me,    and  when  the  boat 


4 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY.  45 

was  ready  to  go  down  the  riv^er  I  went  on  board, 
bound  for  Sacramento.  Here  it  was  also  getting  ter- 
rible wet  and  muddy,  and  the  rain  kept  pouring  down. 
In  the  morning  [  worked  my  way  up  J  street  and  saw 
a  six-mule  team  wading  up  the  streets  the  driver  on 
foot,  tramping  through  the  sloppy  mud,  occasionally 
stepping  in  a  hole  and  falling  his  whole  length  in  the 
mud.  On  the  street  where  so  much  trouble  was  met 
by  the  teamsters,  a  lot  of  idlers  stood  on  the  sidewalk, 
and  when  a  driver  would  fall  and  go  nearly  out  of 
sight,  they  would,  like  a  set  of  loafers,  laugh  at  him 
and  blackguard  him  with  much  noise,  and  as  they 
were  numerous  they  feared  nothing. 

Suddenly  a  miner,  who  had  lately  arrived  from  the 
mountains,  raised  his  room  window  in  the  second 
story  of  a  house,  put  out  one  leg  and  then  his  body, 
as  far  as  he  could,  and  having  nothing  on  but  his 
night  clothes,  shouted  to  the  noisy  crowd  below: — 
"Sa}^  can't  you  d — d  farmers  plow  now?"  At  this  he 
dodged  back  quickly  into  his  window  as  if  he  expect- 
ed something  might  be  thrown  at  him.  The  rain  con- 
tinued, and  the  water  rose  gradually  till  it  began  to 
run  slowly  through  the  streets,  and  all  the  business 
stopped  except  gambling  and  drinking  whisky,  which 
were  freely  carried  on  in  the  saloons  day  and  night. 

While  here  in  Sacramento  I  was  sufficiently  promp- 
ted by  curiosity  to  go  around  to  the  place  on  J  street 
where  the  l^egislature  was  in  session.  1  stood  some- 
time outside  the  enclosure  listening  to  the  members 
who  were  in  earnest  debate  over  a  question  concern- 
ing the  size  of  mining  claims.  They  wanted  them 
uniform  ni  size  all  over  the  state,  Init  there  was  some 
opposition,  and  the  debate  on  this  occasion  was  be- 
tween the  members  from  the  mining  counties  on  one 
side  and  the  "cow"  counties  on  the  other.  The 
miners  took  the  ground  that  the  claims  were  of  differ- 


46o  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

ent  richness  in  the  different  mining  localities  and  that 
;he  miners  themselves  were  the  best  judges  of  the 
proper  size  of  claims,  and  were  abundantly  able  to 
make  their  own  laws  as  they  had  done  under  the  pres- 
ent mining  customs,  and  their  laws  had  always  been 
respected,  making  any  further  legislative  action  un- 
necessary. 

While  this  wrangle  was  going  on.  Capt.  Hunt,  of 
San  Bernardino  (our  guide  from  Salt  Lake  in  1849, 
came  along  and  stopped  where  I  stood,  shaking  me 
heartily  by  the  hand,  inquiring  where  I  was  from,  and 
when  I  told  him  I  was  from  the  mines  he  said  he 
thought  the  cow  county  fellows  were  trying  to  make 
the  miners  some  trouble.  I  told  him  the  present  min- 
ing regulations  suited  us  very  well,  and  after  he  had 
talked  with  me  a  little  he  went  inside  and  whispered 
to  some  of  the  silent  members  that  the  miners  wanted 
no  change,  for  he  had  just  consulted  a  miner  to  that 
effect.  When  occasion  offered  he  called  for  a  vote 
which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  cow  counties  and  a 
postponement  of  the  measure  indefinitely. 

My  next  move  was  to  try  to  find  a  dryer  place  so  I 
took  a  boat  for  Benicia,  then  for  Stockton,  where  I 
found  a  sea  of  mud,  so  that  a  man  needed  stilts  or  a 
boat  to  cross  the  street. 

Here  in  a  livery  stable  I  found  my  old  Platte  River 
boss,  Chas.  Dallas,  for  whom  I  drove  in  1849,  but  he 
did  not  seem  to  know  me  and  took  no  notice  of  me, 
but  talked  "horse"  and  horse-racing  to  the  bystanders 
ver}^  loudly.  I  suppose  that  Dallas  had  made  money 
and  did  not  care  for  a  poor  ox  driver,  and  on  my  part 
I  did  not  care  very  much  for  his  friendship,  so  I  walk- 
ed away  and  left  him  without  a  word. 

Every  way  I  looked  was  a  sea  of  black,  sticky  mud; 
dogs  mired  in  the  streets  and  died,  and  teams  and 
animals  had  forsaken  the  usual  route  of  travel.     The 


DEATH  VALLEY.  461 

gambling  houses  and  saloons  were  crowded,  gum 
boots  in  demand,  and  the  only  way  to  get  out  of  town 
was  by  water.  I  took  this  way  out,  and  on  the  same 
boat  by  which  I  came,  going  to  San  Francisco.  This 
was  high  and  dry  enough  to  be  above  the  highest  floods 
of  Yuba,  Sacramento  or  San  Joaquin,  but  all  business 
except  the  saloons  was  dull.  Fronting  on  Portsmouth 
Square  was  the  Hall  of  Corruption.  Inside  was  a 
magnificently  furnished  bar,  more  than  one  keeper  and 
various  gambling  tables,  most  of  them  with  soiled 
doves  in  attendance.  The  room  was  thronged  with 
players  and  spectators,  and  coin  and  dust  were  plenty. 
The  dealers  drew  off  their  cards  carefully,  and  seemed 
to  have  the  largest  pile  of  coin  on  their  side. 

I  climbed  Russian  Hill  and  to  take  a  look  over  the 
city.  It  seemed  poorly  built,  but  the  portion  that  had 
been  burned  in  July  1852,  had  been  built  up  again. 
The  business  part  was  near  the  beach  and  north  of 
Market  street. 

I  had  never  lived  in  a  town  and  did  not  know  its 
ways,  so  I  strolled  around  alone,  for  without  ac(iuaint- 
ance  I  did  not  know  where  to  go  nor  ^vhat  to  look  for. 
I  therefore  thought  I  would  see  some  other  part  of  the 
country.  I  found  that  a  schooner  was  about  to  sail 
for  San  Pedro,  near  Los  .Angeles.  I  took  hold  of  a 
rope  to  help  myself  on  board,  when  it  gave  way  and  I 
found  myself  floundering  in  the  water.  They  helped 
me  out  and  the  Captain  gave  me  a  dry  suit  to  put  on, 
I  was  profoundly  grateful  for  the  favor,  and  found  him 
a  generous  man. 

We  sailed  away  and  stopped  at  Monterey  for  24  hours 
which  gave  me  a  good  chance  for  a  good  look  at  the 
old  Capitol  houses,  which  were  of  adobe,  and  to  find 
that  this  city  was  also  liberally  supplied  with  gamb- 
ling, card  and  billiard  tables.  The  majority  of  the 
people  were  Spanish  and  fond  of  gaming,  and  the  gen. 


462  DEATH  VALLEY. 

eral  appearance  of  the  place  was  old  and  without  good 
improvements,  though  there  were  more  two  story 
houses  than  in  most  places  in  California. 

Some  houses  were  of  stone,  but  more  of  adobe,  and 
there  seemed  to  be  no  fertile  country  round,  and  the 
hills  about  had  small  pines  on  them. 

Some  of  the  sailors  went  out  and  gathered  a  large 
bag  of  mussels  and  clams,  from  which  they  made  a 
liberal  allowance  of  chowder  for  the  table.  After 
seven  or  eight  days  we  arrived  in  San  Pedro,  and 
found  the  town  to  consist  of  one  long  adobe  house. 
The  beach  was  low  and  sandy,  and  we  were  wet  some- 
what in  wading  through  a  light  surf  to  get  on  shore. 
We  had  on  board  a  Mr.  Baylis,  who  we  afterward 
learned  came  down  with  Capt.  Lackey  on  a  big  spec- 
ulation which  was  to  capture  all  the  wild  goats  they 
could  on  Catalina  Island,  and  take  them  to  San  Fran- 
cisco for  slaughtering. 

The  goats  were  easily  captured  and  taken  on  board 
the  schooner,  and  thence  to  shore  but  many  were 
drowned  in  the  transit,  and  when  driven  to  San  Fran- 
cisco the  dead  were  scattered  all  along  the  route.  Al- 
though wild  they  seemed  to  lack  the  vitality  that  tame 
goats  possess.  The  speculation  proved  a  disappoint- 
ment to  the  projectors. 

At  the  adobe  house,  kept  by  a  Spainard  we  had 
breakfast,  then  shouldered  our  packs  for  the  march  of 
ten  leagues  to  Los  Angeles  for  there  was  no  chance  to 
ride.  It  was  night  before  we  i  cached  the  City  of 
Angels,  and  here  I  staid  a  day  to  take  a  look  at  the 
first  city  I  saw  in  California  in  March  1850. 

I  inquired  for  my  mining  companion,  W.  M.  Stock- 
ton who  worked  with  Bennett  and  myself  near  George- 
town  in  1850,  and  found  he  lived  near  the  old  mission 
of  San  Gabriel  nine  miles  away,  whither  t  walked  and 
found  him  and  family  well  and  glad  to  see  me.     He 


DKATH  VALLEY.  463 

had  jumped  au  old  pear  orchard  which  was  not  claim- 
ed by  the  Mission  Fathers,  although  it  was  only  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  away.  The  trees  were  all  seedlings 
and  very  large,  probably  50  or  more  years  old.  Some 
of  the  Mission  buildings  were  falling  down  since  they 
had  been  abandoned,  and  the  Americans  would  go  to 
these  houses  and  remove  the  tile  flooring  from  the 
porches  and  from  the  pillars  that  supported  them. 
These  tiles  were  of  hard  burned  clay,  in  pieces  about 
a  foot  square,  and  were  very  convenient  to  make  fire 
places  and  pavements  before  the  doors  of  their  new 
houses.  Out-side  the  enclosed  orange  and  fig  orchard 
at  this  place  were  some  large  olive  and  fig  trees,  ap- 
parently as  old  as  the  mission,  being  a  foot  or  more  in 
diameter  and  about  50  feet  high.  I  had  never  seen 
olives,  and  when  I  saw  these  trees  covered  with  plenty 
of  fruit  abont  the  size  of  damson  plums  I  took  the 
liberty  of  tasting  it  and  found  it  very  disagreeable, 
and  wondered  of  what  use  such  fruit  could  be. 

Mr.  Stockton  fenced  his  orchard  by  setting  posts 
and  tying  sycamore  poles  to  them  to  keep  the  stock 
away,  built  an  adobe  house  on  the  claim  and  called 
the  property  his.  I  went  to  work  for  him  at  once, 
pruning  the  trees,  which  improved  their  appearance, 
and  then  turned  on  a  little  stream  of  water  which  ran 
through  the  place,  and  on  down  to  the  mission.  With 
this  treatment  the  trees  did  well  without  cultivation. 

I  bought  one  half  the  stock  consisting  of  some 
Spanish  cows,  one  yoke  of  oxen  and  some  horses,  work- 
ed enough  to  pay  my  board,  watched  the  stock  and 
still  had  plenty  of  time  to  ride  around  over  the  adjoin- 
ing country. 

When  the  pears  were  ripe  the  Spanish  men,  women 
and  children  eagerly  bought  them  at  25  cents  per  dozen 
and  some  Sundays  the  receipts  for  fruit  sold  would  be 
as  high  as  $100.     That    taken  to  town  would  bring 


464  DEATH  VALIvEY. 

from  $5.  to  $8.  per  box,  the  boxes  being  a  little  larger 
than  those  in  present  use.  An  Indian  woman,  widow 
of  a  Mr.  Reed,  claimed  a  vineyard  near  the  orchard, 
and  laid  claim  to  the  whole  property,  so  Stockton  gave 
her  $1000  for  a  quit  claim  deed. 

Near  by  was  a  small  artificial  lake  made  by  a  dam 
of  cobble  stones,  laid  in  cement  across  a  ravine,  which 
was  built  perhaps  50  years  before,  and  yet  the  tracks  of 
a  child  who  had  walked  across  before  the  cement  was 
dry,  were  plainly  seen. 

Stockton  and  I  visited  Mr.  Roland,  an  old  settler 
who  lived  south  of  San  Gabriel  river,  and  staid  all 
night  with  him,  finding  him  very  sociable  and  hospita- 
ble. All  his  work  was  done  by  Indians  who  lived 
near  by,  and  had  been  there  as  long  as  he.  He  had  a 
small  vineyard,  and  raised  corn,  squashes,  melons  and 
all  that  are  necessary  for  his  table,  having  also  a  small 
mill  near  by  for  grinding  corn  and  wheat  without  bolt- 
ing. The  Indians  made  his  wine  by  tramping  the 
grapes  with  their  teet  in  a  rawhide  vat  hung  between 
four  poles  set  in  the  ground.  The  workmen  were 
paid  off  every  Saturday  night,  and  during  Sunday  he 
would  generally  sell  them  wine  enough  to  get  about 
all  the  money  back  again.  This  had  been  his  practice 
for  many  years,  and  no  doubt  suited  Mr.  Roland  as 
well  as  the  red  men. 

Roland  was  an  old  Rocky  Mountain  trapper  who 
came  to  California  long  before  gold  was  discovered, 
and  during  the  evening  the  talk  naturally  ran  to  the 
subject  of  early  days. 

Mr.  Roland  related  that  while  his  party  were  in 
camp  in  the  upper  Colorado  they  were  visited  by  a 
small  band  of  Indians  who  professed  friendship  and 
seated  themselves  around  the  fire.  Suddenly  they 
made  an  attack  and  each  trapper  had  an  Indian  to  con- 
tend with,  except  Mr.    Roland  who  was  left  to  be  dis- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  465 

patched  afterwards.  But  as  he  ran,  a  squaw  among' 
them  followed  him,  and  after  a  while  overtook  him 
and  showed  friendship.  He  had  neither  gun  or  knife 
and  so  concluded  to  put  faith  in  the  woman  who 
safely  guided  him  in  a  long  tramp  across  the  desert 
where  they  both  came  near  starving,  but  finally  reach- 
ed Los  Angeles  Valley,  when  the  brave  squaw  min- 
gled with  her  own  people  and  he  lost  sight  of  her  for- 
ever. 

No  white  man  could  alone  have  traversed  that  desert 
waste  and  found  food  enough  to  last  him  half  the 
journey. 

He  gradually  learned  to  speak  Spanish,  and  was 
granted  the  piece  of  land  he  applied  for,  and  where 
he  then  lived;  married  a  Spanish  girl,  with  whom  he 
had  a  happ}-  home  and  raised  a  large  family,  and  grew 
rich,  for  the}^  were  both  industrious  and  economical. 
The  first  wife  died,  and  he  was  persuaded  to  marry  a 
Texas  widow,  and  now  had  to  buy  the  first  carriage 
he  ever  owned,  and  furnish  a  fine  turn-out  and  driver 
for  the  lady,  who  wore  much  jewelry  and  fine  clothes, 
and  spent  money  freely.  Roland  was  not  a  society 
man,  his  thoughts  and  habits  weie  different  from  his 
wife,  and  he  staid  at  home,  better  contented  there. 

There  were  many  other  pioneers  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, Dan  Sexton,  Col.  Williams,  of  Chino  ranch, 
Workman,  B.  D.  Wilson,  Abel  Stearns,  Temple, 
Wolfskin  and  many  others,  Scott  and  Granger  were 
iawers.  Granger  was  the  same  man  who  read  the 
preamble  and  resolutions  that  were  to  govern  our  big 
train  as  we  were  about  to  start  from  Utah  Lake. 

Scott  was  qi'.ite  a  noted  member  of  the  bar,  and 
when  Gen.  Winfield  Scott  ran  for  President,  some 
wide  awake  politicians  caused  the  uneducated  Span- 
iards to  vote  for  their  favorite  lawyer  instead  of  the 
redoubtable  general,    and  they  did    this  with  a  good 


466  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

will  for  they  thought  the  famous  avacado  was  the  best 
man,  and  thus  the  manipulators  lost  many  votes  to  the 
real  candidate.  Scott  was  afterward  retained  by  many 
of  the  Spaniards  to  present  their  claims  for  their  land 
to  the  U.  S.  Goverment  and  was  considered  a  very 
able  man. 

Mr.  Stockton  related  that  when  he  left  his  family 
here  to  go  to  the  mines  he  rented  one  half  a  house  of 
Michael  Blanco  who  had  a  Spanish  wife  and  children, 
and  these  and  his  own  were  of  course  constant  play- 
mates. When  he  returned  in  the  fall  he  found  his 
children  had  learned  to  speak  Spanish  and  nearl}^  for- 
gotten English,  so  that  he  had  to  coax  them  a  great 
deal  to  get  them  to  talk  to  him  at  all,  and  he  could  not 
understand  a  word  they  said. 

I  now  tried  to  learn  the  language  myself.  I  had 
money  to  loan,  and  the  borrowers  were  Spanish  who 
gave  good  security  and  paid  from  5  to  25  per  cent  in- 
terest per  month,  on  short  time.  Mrs.  Stockton  as- 
sisted me  very  much  as  an  interpreter. 

I  bought  young  steers  for  $8.  each  and  gradually 
added  to  my  herd.  I  got  along  well  until  next  spring 
when  the  beef  eating  population  began  to  steal  my  fat 
cattle,  and  seemed  determined  I  should  get  no  richer. 
The  country  was  over-stocked  with  desperate  and  laW' 
less  renegades  in  Los  Angeles  and  from  one  to  four 
dead  men  was  about  the  number  picked  up  in  the 
streets  each  morning.  They  were  of  low  class,  and 
there  was  no  investigation,  simph'  a  burial  at  public 
expense. 

The  permanent  Spanish  population  seemed  honest 
and  benevolent,  but  there  were  many  bad  ones  from 
Chili,  Sonora,  Mexico,  Texas,  Utah  and  Europe,  who. 
seemed  always  on  an  errand  of  mischief  a  murder, 
thieving  or  robbery. 

Three  or  four  suspicious  looking  men  came  on  horse^ 


DEATH  VAT.IvEY.  ^6t 

back  and  made  their  camp  near  the  Mission  under  an 
oak  tree,  where  they  staid  sometime.  The}'  always 
left  someone  in  camp  while  the  others  went  away  every 
day  on  their  horses,  and  acted  so  stranprel}'  that  the  re- 
port soon  became  current  that  the}-  were  stealing 
horses  and  running  them  off  to  some  safe  place  in  the 
mountains  till  a  quantity  could  be  accumulated  to  lake 
to  the  mines  to  sell.  On  this  information  the  Vigilance 
Committee  arrested  the  man  in  camp  and  brought  him 
to  a  private  room,  wlj^re  he  was  tried  by  twelve  men, 
who  found  him  guilty  of  horse  stealing,  and  sentenced 
to  be  hung  at  once,  for  horse  stealing  was  a  capital 
offence  in  those  days. 

To  carry  out  the  sentence  they  procured  a  cart,  put 
a  box  on  it  for  a  seat,  and  with  a  rope  around  his  neck 
and  seated  on  the  box,  the  condemned  man  wasdrag- 
ed  off  by  hand  to  an  oak  tree  not  far  away,  whither  he 
was  followed  by  all  the  men,  women  and  children  of 
the  place,  who  where  nearly  all  natives.  While  pre- 
parations were  being  made  under  the  tree  some  one 
called  out  that  men  were  riding  rapidly  from  the  direc- 
tion of  Los  Angeles,  and  from  the  dust  they  raised 
seemed  to  be  more  than  usually  in  haste.  So  it  was 
proposed  to  wait  till  they  came  up.  It  was  soon 
known  that  an  Indian  had  been  j^ent  to  I.os  Angeles 
to  give  news  to  the  man's  friends  there,  and  they  had 
come  with  all  the  speed  of  their  horses  to  try  to  save 
his  life.  They  talked  and  inquired  around  a  little  and 
then  proposed  the  question  whether  to  hang  him  or  to 
turn  him  over  to  the  lawful  authorities  for  regular 
trial.  This  was  put  to  a  vote  and  it  was  decided  to 
spare  him  now.  So  the  rope  was  taken  off  his  neck, 
and  he  was  turned  over  to  Mr.  Mallard  the  Mission 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  much  to  the  relief  of  the  fellow 
who  saw  death  staring  him  in  the  face. 

The  Santa  Anita  ranch,   now  owned  by  E.  J.  Bald- 


468  DEATH  VALLEY. 

win,  was  owned  by  Henry  Dalton,  an  Englishman, 
who  came  with  a  stock  of  goods  worth  $75,000,  years 
before,  but  now  had  only  the  ranch  left.  The  Azuza, 
a  short  distance  south  was  occupied  by  his  brother. 

I  became  well  acquainted  with  many  of  these  old 
California  natives,  and  found  them  honest  in  their 
dealings,  good  to  the  needy  and  in  all  my  travels  never 
found  more  willing  hands  to  bestow  upon  relatives, 
friends  or  strangers  ready  relief  than  I  saw  among 
these  simple  natives.  Their  kjjidness  to  our  party 
when  we  came  starving  on  the  desert  in  1850,  can 
never  be  praised  enough,  and  as  long  as  I  shall  live 
my  best  wishes  shall  go  with  them. 

I  was  one  day  riding  with  Vincent  Duarte  down  to- 
ward Anaheim  when  he  suddenly  dismounted  to  kill 
a  large  tarantula  by  pelting  him  with  stones.  It  was 
the  first  one  I  had  seen,  and  seemed  an  over-grown 
spider.  I  asked  him  if  the  thing  was  harmful,  and  he 
replied  with  considerable  warmth,  "Mucho  malo  por 
Christianos"  and  I  wondered  if  the  insect  knew  saints 
from  sinners. 

This  spring  we  concluded  to  go  to  the  Mormon  set- 
tlement at  San  Bernardino  and  secure  some  American 
bulls  to  improve  our  stock,  and  starting  late  one  day  I 
rode  as  far  as  the  Azuza  Rancho  where  I  staid  all 
night  with  Mr.  Dalton,  reaching  the  holy  city,  a  branch 
of  Brigham  Young's  harem  next  day.  Here  I  found 
a  town  of  log  houses  in  a  circle,  enclosing  a  plaza. 
There  was  a  passage  between  the  houses.  I  stopped 
at  the  principal  hotel  kept  by  a  vigorous  and  enthu- 
siastic Mormon  woman,  who  delighted  to  preach  the 
doctrine. 

Walking  around  on  the  outside  of  the  fortifications  I 
came  across  Capt.  Hunt,  the  man  who  was  hired  in  the 
fall  of  1849  to  bring  the  big  train  from  Salt  Lake  to 
San  Bernardino. 


DEATH  VALLEY.  469 

I  told  him  who  I  was,  and  what.  I  wanted,  and  he 
seemed  to  know  me,  inviting  me  in  the  most  friendly 
and  social  manner  to  take  supper  with  him,  which  I 
did.  He  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table  and  introduced 
me  to  his  three  wives.  The  furnishing  of  the  house 
was  cheap  and  common,  but  the  table  was  fairly  pro- 
vided for.  He  said  he  would  help  me  to  find  the  ani- 
mals I  wanted,  and  in  the  morning  showed  me  two 
which  he  had,  that  were  young  and  suitable,  and  a 
larger  one  which  he  said  I  could  have  if  I  could  drive 
him. 

1  soon  found  out  that  I  had  better  move  or  sell  my 
cattle,  for  with  all  my  watching  I  could  do  they  grad- 
ually disappeared,  and  hungry  thieves  who  could  live 
on  beef  alone,  visited  my  little  band  of  cattle  too  often 
and  took  what  they  wanted,  and  I  could  not  detect 
them.  I  soon  sold  to  four  buyers  from  the  north,  L. 
D.  Stevens,  David  Grant,  Sam  Craig  and  Mr.  Wilson, 
and  hired  out  with  my  two  horses  to  help  them  drive 
the  band  north,  at  a  salar}'  of  $100  per  month. 

Disposing  most  of  my  money  with  Palmer,  Cook  & 
Co.,  I  went  to  see  my  mine  at  Moore's  Flat.  There 
were  two  boats  leaving  at  about  the  same  time,  one  lor 
Stockton,  and  one  for  Sacramento,  the  latter  of  which 
I  took,  and  Rogers  the  other.  Both  landed  at  Benecia, 
and  when  we  swung  away  from  that  wharf  Rogers  and 
I  saluted  each  other  with  raised  and  swinging  hats, 
shouted  a  good  bye,  and  I  have  iiever  seen  him  since. 

At  Moore's  Flat  I  found  my  mine  well  and  profit- 
ably worked  b}'  Mr.  Tyler  and  as  his  lease  was  not  out 
I  returned  to  San  Jose,  as  I  had  learned  from  Rogers 
that  Mr.  A.  Bennett  was  at  Watsonville,  and  Mr. 
Arcane  at  Santa  Cruz,  and  I  desired  to  visit  them.  I 
rode  back  across  the  country  and  found  Mr.  Bennett 
and  family  at  the  point  where  the  Salinas  river  enters 
Monterey  Bay.      They  were  all  well,  and  were  glad  to 


470  DEATH  VALLEY 

see  me  for  they  did  not  know  I  was  in  California. 
Mrs.  Bennett  was  greatlj-  affected  at  our  meeting  and 
shed  tears  of  jo}-  as  she  shook  hands. 

Bennett  had  a  nice  Whitehall  boat  and  we  had  a 
genuine  happy  time  hunting,  fishing  and  gathering 
clams,  and  also  in  social  visits  amoung  the  neighbors 
and  old  acquaintances,  among  them  one  Jacob  Rhode- 
house  of  Wisconsin. 

While  here  I  rode  my  horse  around  to  Monterey  and 
to  Carmel  Mission,  where  I  staid  two  or  three  days 
with  Mr.  Gourley,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  William  M.  Stock- 
ton, who  was  here  engaged  in  raising  potatoes.  I 
walked  along  the  beach  near  some  rocky  islands  near 
the  shore,  and  on  these  rocks  were  more  sea  lions  and 
seals  than  I  supposed  the  whole  ocean  contained — the 
most  wonderful  show  of  sea  life  on  the  California  coast. 
Returning  I  staid  all  night  at  the  crossing  of  the  Salinas 
with  a  colored  famil}^  who  gave  me  good  accommo- 
dations for  self  and  horse.  I  heard  afterward  that  this 
family  was  attacked  by  robbers  and  all  but  one  murder- 
ed. 

Mrs.  Bennett's  father  D.  J.  Dilley  lived  near  here 
also,  and  I  had  not  seen  him  since  the  time  in  Wiscon- 
sin, when  he  hauled  my  canoe  over  to  the  river  in  1849. 
One  day  while  fishing  on  the  beach  we  found  the  body 
of  a  man,  which  we  carried  above  the  tide  and  buried 
in  the  sand. 

I  gave  one  of  my  horses  to  Geo.  Bennett,  and  went 
over  to  Santa  Cruz,  where  I  found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  B. 
Arcane  and  son  Charles  in  a  comfortable  home,  well 
situated,  and  o.verjoyed  to  see  me. 

He  knew  everyone  in  town,  and  as  we  went  about  he 
never  missed  to  introduce  me  to  every  one  we  met,  as 
the  man  who  helped  himself  and  family  out  of  Death 
\^alley,  and  saved  their  lives.  Arcane  was  a  very  po- 
ite  Frenchman  and  knew  how  to  manage  such  things. 


DEATH  VAI^IvEY.  471 

very  gracefully,  but  with  all  his  grace  and  heartiness 
It  made  me  feel  quite  a  little  embarrassed  to  be  made 
so  much  of  publicly  and  among  strangers.  He  took 
tue  in  his  buggy  and  we  drove  along  the  beach,  and  to 
the  lime-kiln  of  Cowel  &  Jordan,  also  to  the  court 
house  when  court  was  in  session. 

Upon  the  hill  I  met  Judge  Watson,  the  father  of 
Watson ville,  and  a  Mr.  Graham,  an  old  settler  and 
land  owner,  and  on  this  occasion  he  pulled  a  sheet  of 
ancient,  smoky  looking  paper  from  beneath  his  arm, 
pointed  to  a  dozen  or  so  of  written  lines  in  Spanish 
and  then  with  a  flourish  of  the  precious  document  in 
Watson's  face  dared  him  to  beat  that,  or  get  him  off 
Tiis  land.  I  must  say  that  never  in  my  life  was  I  bet- 
ter entertained  than  here. 

From  Santa  Cruz  I  crossed  the  mountain  on  a  lonely 
and  romantic  trail  to  San  Jose  again,  finding  very  few 
houses  on  the  road.  Here  1  went  to  work  for  R.  G. 
Moody  building  a  gristmill  on  the  banks  of  the  Coyote 
Creek,  to  be  run  by  water  from  artesian  wells.  When 
the  mill  was  done  I  went  for  my  horse,  and  on  my  re- 
turn I  ran  very  unexpectedly  upon  Davenport  Helms, 
to  whom  I  hsd  sold  mj' little  black  mule  in  1850.  Our 
talk  was  short  but  he  told  me  he  had  killed  a  man  in 
Georgetown,  and  the  sheriff  was  looking  for  him.  He 
was  now  venturing  to  town  for  tobacco,  and  would 
hurry  back  to  the  hills  again  where  he  was  herding 
cattle. 

He  said  he  kept  them  off  at  one  time  by  getting  in 
a  piece  of  chaparral  and  presenting  his  gun  to  them 
when  they  came  near,  they  dare  not  advance  on  him. 
Then  he  laughed  and  said — "And  all  the  time  my  gun 
was  empt}-,  for  I  did  not  have  ad — d  thing  to  put  into 
it.  "  '  'I  tell  you  they  don't  catch  old  Davenport.  Now 
don't  you  tell  on  me.  Good-b3'e. "  I  saw  him  no 
more  after  that. 


472  DEATH  VALLEY. 

The  town  of  San  Jose  was  now  more  of  a  town  than 
it  was  a  few  years  before.  The  "Fort}' Thieves,"  and 
others,  commenced  building  a  city  hall  of  brick  on  the 
top  of  old  adobe  walls,  and  this  was  the  principal  im- 
provement, except  the  Moody  mill  near  the  Sutter 
house,  one  street  north  of  Julian. 

After  finishing  work  on  the  mill  I  diew  my  money 
from  the  bank  in  San  Francisco  and  started  for  the 
mines  on  horseback.  Near  French  Camp,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  many  cattle  were  feed- 
ing on  the  plains,  and  among  them,  much  to  my  sur- 
prise I  found  "Old  Crump, "  the  ox  that  brought  Ben- 
nett's and  Arcane 's  children  safe  through  from  Death 
Valley  in  February,  1850.  He  was  now  fat  and  sleek 
and  as  kind  and  gentle  as  when  so  poor  upon  the  terri- 
ble journey.  I  got  off  my  horse  and  went  up  to  him, 
and  patted  my  old  friend.  I  was  glad  to  find  him  so 
contented  and  happ}^  and  I  doubt  not  that  he  too  was 
glad.  I  met  a  man  near  by  and  asked  him  about  the 
ox,  and  he  said  that  the  owner  would  not  sell  him  nor 
allow  him  to  be  worked,  for  he  knew  of  the  faithful 
part  he  performed  in  the  world,  and  respected  him  for  it. 

At  Sacramento  I  deposited  my  money  with  Page, 
Bacon  &  Co. ,  a  branch  of  the  St.  Louis  firm  of  the  same 
name,  considered  the  safest  bank  in  the  United  States. 
Their  bills  were  taken  in  payment  of  Government 
land.  Some  rascals  had  some  counterfeit  bills  on  their 
bank,  and  traded  them  off  for  gold  with  the  Missouri- 
ans  who  were  going  home,  and  the  poor  fellows  found 
themselves  poor  on  arrival. 

Going  to  my  mine,  where  I  left  only  a  cabin  or  two, 
I  found  quite  a  village  with  two  hotels  and  a  post  office. 

News  soon  came  that  the  banks  had  closed  their 
door,  and  Page  and  Bacon  also,  so  I  concluded  that  I 
was  broke.  The  "Pikers"  said  Page  and  Bacon  could 
not,  nor  would  not  fail,    but   news  was  against  them. 


DEATH  VALLEY  473 

The  boys  now  tried  to  persuade  rue  to  go  to  Sacramen- 
to, and  try  to  get  my  money  and  if  I  succeeded,  to 
bring  up  a  good  stock  of  goods  and  they  would  buy  of 
me  in  prefeience  to  any  one  else.  On  this  showing  I 
went  down,  and  finding  my  old  friend  Lyman  Ross 
(well  known  in  San  Jose)  who  was  keeping  a  fruit 
store.  I  told  him  my  business  and  he  took  me  to  L. 
A.  Booth,  Carrol  &  Co. ,  and  I  stated  to  him  the  facts 
about  nn  money  in  the  bank  and  the  doors  closed.  I 
told  him  if  he  would  assist  me  I  would  buy  $2000 
worth  of  his  goods,  and  send  them  to  Moore's  Flat.  I 
endorsed  the  certificate  over  to  him,  and  in  half  an 
hour  he  came  back  with  the  coin.  How  he  got  it  I 
neyer  knew,  but  he  did  me  a  great  favor,  and  we  have 
been  good  friends  ever  since.  I  was  no  merchant, 
nor  had  I  any  mercantile  education,  so  I  took  lessons 
from  Mr.  Booth,  and  allowed  him  to  make  out  for  me 
a  bill  of  goods  such  as  he  well  knew  I  needed.  With 
these  we  loaded  up  two  6  mule  teams,  and  started  for 
the  mountain. 

I  had  about  .^700  left  besides  paying  for  the  goods, 
but  I  felt  a  very  little  troubled  as  to  my  prospect  for 
success,  for  it  was  a  new  business  to  me.  Mr.  Booth 
in  a  business  way  was  a  true  father  to  me,  and  the 
much  needed  points  in  trade  which  he  gave  me  were 
stored  away  for  the  use  I  knew  I  would  make  of  them. 
Of  all  those  whom  I  bear  in  grateful  remembrance 
none  stand  higher  than  this  worthy  man. 

I  went  first  direct  to  Nevada  City  to  take  out  a  li- 
cense that  I  might  best  protect  myself  against  opposi- 
tions and  from  there  I  had  a  walk  of  18  miles  over  a 
rough  mountain  trail  to  my  selected  place  of  business. 
Climbing  the  great  hill  of  the  S.  Yuba  river  I  often 
tired  and  sat  down  to  rest,  and  I  used  this  time  to 
study  my  bill  of  goods,  and  add  the  freight  and  profit 
to  the  cost,  so  as  to  be  well  posted,  and  able  to  answer 


.474  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

all  questions  readily  when  I  unloaded  the  stock.  The 
new  trade  seemed  quite  a  task  to  learn,  but  I  felt  that 
I  was  compelled  to  succeed,  and  I  worked  manfully  at  it. 

When  I  reached  Moore's  Flat  I  found  that  the  boys 
had  rented  a  store  for  me,  and  their  welcome  was  very 
hearty  when  they  found  how  lucky  I  had  been  in  se- 
curing my  money  and  starting  out  as  their  "grub  sup- 
plier. " 

Four  of  us  now  located  some  mining  claims,  and  be- 
gan a  tunnel  both  to  drain  the  ground,  and  to  work 
through  the  bed-rock.  This  w^e  named  The  Paradise, 
and  we  expected  that  three  or  four  months  would 
•elapse  before  we  made  it  pay,  but  there  was  in  truth 
two  years  of  solid  rock-work  before  we  got  under  the 
ground,  but  it  paid  well  in  the  end. 

The  largest  nugget  of  gold  ever  found  before  this 
time  was  a  quartz  boulder  from  the  Buckeye  sluice, 
:about  8  by  lo  inches  in  size,  and  when  cleaned  up  at 
tne  San  Francisco  mint  the  value  was  about  -t  10,000. 

Two  of  my  partners  in  the  work,  L.  J.  Hanchett, 
and  Jas.  Clark  ran  out  of  funds  at  the  end  of  the  first 
year,  and  I  took  as  much  of  the  expense  as  I  could  up- 
on my  own  shoulders. 

About  this  time  learning  by  a  letter  from  her  father 
that  Mrs.  Bennett  was  lying  at  the  point  of  death  at 
Mr.  L.  C.  Bostic's  in  San  Jose,  I  left  H.  Hanchett  in 
•charge  of  my  business,  and  in  four  days  I  stood  beside 
the  bedside  of  my  friend,  endeared  through  the  trials 
when  death  by  thirst,  starvation  and  the  desert  sands, 
stared  us  in  the  face  with  all  its  ghastliness. 

She  reached  out  her  arms  and  drew  me  down  to  her, 
and  embraced  me  and  said  in  a  faint  whisper — "God 
bless  you: — you  saved  us  all  till  now,  and  I  hope  you 
will  always  be  happy  and  live  long."  She  would 
have  said  more,  but  her  voice  was  so  weak  she  could 
not  be  heard.     She  was  very  low   with  consumption, 


DEATH  VALLEY.  475 

and  easily  exhausted.  I  sat  with  her  much  of  the 
time  at  her  request  and  though  for  her  sake  I  would 
have  kept  back  the  tears  I  could  not  always  do  it. 
Two  doctors  came,  one  of  them  Dr.  Spencer,  and  as  I 
sat  with  my  face  partly  turned  away  I  over  heard  Dr. 
S.  say  to  his  assistant — "He  is  a  manly  man.  " 

This  presence  and  the  circumstances  brought  back 
the  trying  Death  Valley  struggles,  when  this  woman 
and  her  companions,  and  the  poor  children,  so  nearly 
starved  they  could  not  stand  alone,  were  only  preven- 
ted from  sitting  down  to  die  in  sheer  despair  by  the 
encouraging  words  of  Rogers  and  myself  who  had 
passed  over  the  road,  and  used  every  way  to  sustain 
their  courage. 

She  died  the  following  day;  with  Mr.  Bennett,  I 
followed  her  remains  to  Oak  Hill  cemetery,  where  she 
was  buried  near  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  a  board  mark- 
ed in  large  letters,  "S.  B. "  (Sarah  Bennett)  placed  to 
mark  the  mound.  The  grave  cannot  now  be  found, 
and  no  records  being  then  kept  it  is  probably  lost. 

I  went  home  with  Mr.  Bennett  10  his  home  near 
Watsonville,  and  spent  several  days,  meeting  several 
of  our  old  Death  Valley  party,  and  Mr.  D.  J.  Dilley, 
Mrs.  Bennett's  father.  Mrs.  Bennett  left  surviving 
her  a  young  babe. 

I  returned  to  Moore's  Flat,  and  soon  sold  out  my 
store,  taking  up  the  business  of  purchasing  gold  dust 
direct  from  the  miners,  which  I  followed  for  about  two 
years,  and  in  the  fall  of  1859  sold  out  the  business  to 
Marks  &  Powers.  I  looked  about  through  Napa  and 
Sonoma  Counties,  and  finally  came  to  San  Jose,  where 
I  purchased  the  farm  I  now  own,  near  Hillsdale,  of 
Bodley  &  McCabe,  for  which  I  paid  $4,000. 

In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  my  old  friend  \\".  M. 
Stockton  of  Los  Angeles  Co.  persuaded  me  to  come 
down  and  pay  him  a  visit.      His  wife  had  died  and  he 


6  DEATH  VALLEY 

felt  very  lonely.  I  had  been  there  but  a  few  days 
when  my  old  friend  A.  Bennett  and  his  children  also 
came  to  Stockton's.  The  children  had  grown  so  much 
I  hardly  knew  them,  but  I  was  glad  indeed  to  meet 
them. 

I  found  Mr.  Bennett  to  be  a  poor  man.  He  had 
been  persuaded  to  go  to  Utah,  being  told  that  a  for- 
tune awaited  his  coming  there,  or  could  be  accumulated 
in  a  short  time.  He  gave  away  the  little  babe  left  b}- 
his  wife  to  Mrs.  Scott,  of  Scott's  Valley,  in  Santa  Cruz 
Co.  and  sold  his  farm  near  the  mouth  of  the  Salinas 
River.  With  what  money  he  had  accumulated  he 
loaded  two  4  mule  teams  with  dry  goods,  put  his  four 
children  into  his  wagon,  and  went  to  Cedar  City,  Utah. 
He  gave  a  thrilling  account  of  passing  through 
Mountain  Meadows,  where  he  saw,  here  and  there 
little  groups  of  skeletons  of  the  unhappy  victims  of  the 
great  massacre  at  that  place  of  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, by  J.  D.  Lee,  and  his  Mormon  followers  and 
told  me  the  terrible  story,  which  I  here  omit. 

Smarting  under  the  terrible  taxation  of  one  tenth  of 
everything,  Bennett  grew  poorer  and  poorer  and  at 
last  resolved  that  he  must  go  away,  but  his  wife  could 
not  leave  her  own  people,  and  so  he  set  off  with  his 
children,  somewhat  afraid  he  might  be  shot  down,  but 
he  reached  Los  Angeles  Co.  in  safety.  One  daughter 
married  a  lawyer  in  San  Bernardino,  and  died  a  few 
vears  afterwards.  The  other  married  a  Capt.  Johnson 
of  Wilmington,  and  Bennett  and  two  sons  went  to 
Idaho. 

A  few  years  ago  in  passing  from  San  Jose  to  the 
Coast,  my  wife  and  I  spent  Sunday  at  Scott's  Valley. 
Mrs.  Scott  invited  us  to  visit  them  in  the  evening  at 
the  house  when  all  would  be  at  home.  Mrs.  Scott 
was  the  lady  to  whom  Bennett  gave  his  girl  baby 
when  he  started  away  for  Utah,  and  I  felt  very  anxious 


DEATH  VAIXEY. 

to  see  her  now  she  was  grown  up.  Mrs.  Scott  intro- 
duced us,  and  I  sat  and  looked  at  the  little  woman 
quite  a  long  time,  but  could  not  see  that  she  resem- 
bled either  father  or  mother.  My  mind  ran  back  over 
the  terrible  road  we  came  and  I  pictured  to  myself  the 
woman  as  she  then  appeared. 

I  studied  over  our  early  trials,  crossing  the  plains 
over  the  deserts  and  our  trying  scenes  out  of  Death 
Valley  and  turned  all  over  in  my  mind  for  some  time 
and  finally  all  came  to  me  like  a  flash  and  I  could 
clearly  see  that  the  little  lady  was  a  true  picture  of 
her  mother;  I  now  began  to  ask  questions  about  her 
folks,  she  said  her  father  lived  near  Belmont,  Nevada, 
and  her  grand-father  died  at  the  Monte,  Los  Angeles 
county  Cal..  Our  visit  now  became  very  interesting 
and  we  kept  a  late  hour. 


478  DEATH  VALLEY. 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

Since  writing  the  connected  story  which  has  thus 
far  appeared,  I  turn  back  to  give  some  incidents  of 
life  in  the  mines,  and  seme  description  of  those  pioneer 
gold  days, 

I  have  spoken  of  Moore's  Flat,  Orleans  Flat  and 
Woolsey's  Flat,  all  similarly  situated  on  different 
points  of  the  mountain,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
ridge  between  the  South  and  Middle  Yuba  River,  and 
all  at  about  the  same  altitude.  A  very  deep  canon 
lies  between  each  of  them,  but  a  good  mountain  road 
was  built  around  the  head  of  each  canon,  connecting 
the  towns.  When  the  snow  got  to  be  three  or  four 
feet  deep  the  roads  must  be  broken  out  and  commu- 
nication opened,  and  the  boys  used  to  turn  ont  eji  masse 
and  each  one  would  take  his  turn  in  leading  the  army 
of  road  breakers.  When  the  leader  got  tired  out  some 
one  would  take  his  place,  for  it  was  terrible  hard  work 
to  wade  through  snow  up  to  one's  hips,  and  the  pro- 
gress very  slow.  But  the  boys  went  at  it  as  if  they 
were  going  to  a  picnic,  and  a  sort  of  picnic  it  was  when 
they  reached  the  next  town,  for  whiskj'  was  free  and 
grub  plenty  to  such  a  party,  and  jollity  and  fun  the 
uppermost  thoughts.  On  one  such  occasion  when  the 
crowd  came  through  Orleans  Flat  to  Moore's  Flat,  Sid 
Hunt,  the  butcher,  was  in  the  lead  as  they  came  in 
sight  of  the  latter  place,  and  both  he  and  his  followers 
talked  pretty  loud  and  rough  to  the  Moore's  Flat  fel- 
lows calling  them  "lazy  pups"  for  not  getting  their 
road  clear.  Hunt's  helper  was  a  big  stout,  loud  talk- 
ing young  man  named  Williams,  and  he  shouted  to 
the  leader — "Sid  Hunt,  toot  your  horn  if  you  don't 
sell  a  clam. ' '     This  seemed  to  put  both  sides  in  good 


I 


DEATH  VALLEY  479 

humor,  and  the  Orleans  fellows  joined  in  a  plent}^  to 
eat  and  drink,  rested  and  went  home.  Next  day, 
both  camps  joined  forces  and  broke  the  road  over  to 
Woolsey's  Flat,  and  the  third  day  crowded  on  toward 
Nevada  City,  and  when  out  and  across  Bloody  Run,  a 
stream  called  thus  because  some  dead  men  had  been 
found  at  the  head  of  the  stream  by  the  early  settlers, 
and  it  was  suspected  the  guilty  murderers  lived  not 
far  off,  they  turned  down  into  Humbug,  a  town  now 
called  Bloomfield,  and  as  they  went  down  the  snow 
was  not  so  deep.  They  soon  met  Sam  Henry,  the  ex- 
press man,  working  through  with  letters  and  papers, 
and  all  turned  home  again. 

A  young  doctor  came  to  Moore's  Flat  and  soon  be- 
came quite  popular,  and  after  a  little  while  purchased 
a  small  drug  store  at  Orleans  Flat.  In  this  town  there 
lived  a  man  and  his  family  and  among  them  a  little 
curly  headed  girl  perhaps  one  or  two  years  old.  She 
was  sick  and  died  and  buried  while  the  ground  was 
covered  thick  with  snow.  A  little  time  after,  it  was 
discovered  that  the  grave  had  been  disturbed,  and  on 
examination  no  body  was  found  in  the  grave. 

Then  it  was  a  searching  party  was  organized,  and 
threats  of  vengence  made  against  the  grave  robber  if 
he  should  be  caught.  No  tracks  were  found  leading 
out  of  town  so  they  began  to  look  about  inside,  and 
there  began  to  be  some  talk  about  this  Dr.  Kittridge 
as  the  culprit.  He  was  the  very  man,  and  he  went  to 
his  drug  store  and  told  his  clerk  to  get  a  saddle  horse 
and  take  the  dead  child's  body  in  a  sack  to  his  cabin 
at  Moore's  Flat,  and  conceal  it  in  a  back  room.  The 
clerk  obeyed,  and  with  the  little  corpse  before  him  on 
the  horse  started  from  the  back  door  and  rode  furious- 
ly to  Moore's  Flat,  and  concealed  the  body  as  he  had 
been  directed. 

Some  noticed  that  he  had  ridden  unusually  fast,  and 


48o  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

having  a  suspicion  that  all  was  not  right,  told  their 
belief  to  the  Orleans  Flat  people,  who  visited  the  Doc- 
tor at  his  store  and  accused  him  of  the  crime,  and  talk- 
ed about  hanging  him  on  the  spot  without  a  trial.  At 
this  the  Doctor  began  to  be  greatly  frightened  and 
begged  piteously  for  them  to  spare  his  life,  confessing 
to  the  deed,  but  pleading  in  extenuation  that  it  was 
for  the  purpose  of  confirming  a  question  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  wholly  in  the  interest  of  science  that  he  did 
it,  and  really  to  spare  the  feelings  of  the  parents  that 
he  did  it  secretly.  He  argued  that  no  real  harm  had 
been  done,  and  some  of  his  friends  sided  with  him  in 
this  view.  But  the  controversy  grew  warmer,  and 
the  house  filled  up  with  poeple.  Some  were  blood- 
thirsty and  needed  no  urging  to  proceed  to  buy  a  rope 
and  use  it.  Others  argued,  and  finally  the  Doctor 
said  that  the  body  had  not  been  dissected,  and  if  they 
would  allow  him,  and  appoint  a  committee  to  go  with 
him,  he  would  produce  the  body,  and  they  could  de- 
cently bury  it  again  and  there  it  might  remain  forever. 
This  he  promised  to  do,  and  all  agreed  to  it,  and  he 
kept  his  word,  thus  ending  the  matter  satisfactorily 
and  the  Doctor  was  released.  But  the  feeling  never 
died  out.  The  Doctor's  friends  deserted  him,  an<l  no 
one  seemed  to  like  to  converse  with  him.  At  the  sa- 
loon he  would  sit  like  a  perfect  stranger,  no  one  notic- 
ing him,  and  he  soon  left  for  new  fields. 

The  first  tunnel  run  at  Moore's  Flat  was  called  the 
Paradise,  and  had  to  be  started  low  on  the  side  of  the 
mountain  in  order  to  drain  the  ground,  cind  had  to  be 
blasted  through  the  bed  rock  for  about  200  feet. 

Four  of  us  secured  ground  enough  by  purchase  so  we 
could  afford  to  undertake  this  expensive  job  and  we 
worked  on  it  day  and  night.  Jerry  Clark  and  Len 
Redfield  worked  the  day  shifts,  and  Sam  King  and 
Wm.   Quirk  the  night  shift.      When  the  tunnel  was 


DKATH  YATXKY.  481 

completed  about  100  feet,  the  night  shift  had  driven 
forward  the  top  of  the  tunnel  as  a  heading,  leaving 
the  bottom,  which  was  about  a  foot  thick,  or  more,  to 
be  taken  out  b}-  the  day  shift.  The}'  drilled  a  hole 
about  two  feet  horizontally  to  blast  out  this  bench. 
King  would  sit  and  hold  the  drill  between  his  feet, 
while  Quirk  would  strike  with  a  heavy  sledge.  When 
the  hole  was  loaded  the}'  tramped  down  the  charge 
very  hard  so  as  to  be  sure  it  would  not  blow  out,  but 
lift  the  whole  bench.  One  day  when  they  were  load- 
ing a  hole,  King  told  Quirk  to  come  down  pretty 
heavy  on  the  tamping,  so  as  to  make  all  sure,  and 
after  a  few  blows  given  as  directed,  there  was  an  ex- 
plosion, and  Quirk  was  forced  some  distance  out  of  the 
tunnel,  his  eyes  nearly  put  out  with  dirt  blown  into 
them,  and  his  face  and  body  cut  with  flying  pieces  of 
rock.  He  was  at  first  completel}^  stunned,  but  after 
awhile  recovered  so  as  to  crawl  out,  and  was  slowly 
making  his  way  up  the  hill  on  hands  and  knees  when 
he  was  discovered  and  helped  to  his  cabin  where  his 
wounds  were  washed  and  dressed. 

Then  a  party  wiih  lighted  candles  entered  the  tun- 
nel to  learn  the  fate  of  King,  and  they  found  him  ly- 
ing on  the  mass  of  rock  the  blast  had  lifted,  dead. 
On  a  piece  of  board  they  bore  the  body  to  his  cabin. 
There  was  hardly  a  whole  bone  remaining.  A  cut 
diagonally  across  his  face,  made  by  a  sharp  stone,  had 
nearly  cut  his  head  in  two.  He  had  been  thrown  so 
violently  against  the  roof  of  the  tunnel,  about  6  feet 
high,  that  he  was  completely  mashed. 

He  had  a  wife  in  Mass  and  as  I  had  often  heard 
him  talk  of  her,  and  of  sending  her  money,  I  bought 
a  $100  check  and  sent  it  in  the  same  letter  which  bore 
the  melancholy  news.  King  had  a  claim  at  Chip's 
Flat  which  he  believed  would  be  very  rich  in  time,  so 
I  kept  his  interest  up  in  it  till  it  amounted  to  $500  and 


482  DEATH  VALLEY. 

then  abandoned  the  claim  and  pocketed  the  loss* 
We  made  a  pine  box,  and  putting  his  body  in  it, 
laid  it  away  with  respect.  I  had  often  heard  him  say 
that  if  he  suJBFered  an  accident,  he  wished  to  be  killed 
outright  and  not  be  left  a  cripple,  and  his  wish  came 
true. 

After  this  accident  the  blacksmith  working  for 
the  Paradise  Co.,  was  making  some  repairs  about 
the  surface  of  the  air  shaft,  and  ajiong  his  tools 
was  a  bar  of  steel  an  inch  square,  and  8  or  lo  feet 
long,  which  was  thrown  across  the  shaft,  and  while 
working  at  the  whim  wheel  he  slipped  and  struck  this 
bar  which  fell  to  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  loo  feet  deep 
and  the  blacksmith  followed.  When  the  other  work- 
men went  down  to  his  assistance  they  found  that  the 
bar  of  steel  had  stuck  upright  in  the  bottom  of  the 
shaft,  and  when  the  man  came  down  it  pierced  his 
body  from  hip  to  neck,  killing  him  instantly.  He  was 
a  5'oung  man,  and  I  have  forgotten  his  name. 

Those  who  came  to  California  these  later  years  will 
not  many  of  them  see  the  old  apparatus  and  appliances 
which  were  used  in  saving  the  gold  in  those  primitive 
days.  Among  them  was  the  old  "Rocker."  This 
had  a  bottom  about  5  feet  long  and  16  inches  wide, 
with  the  sides  about  8  inches  high  for  half  the  lenght, 
and  then  sloped  off  to  two  inches  at  the  end.  There 
was  a  bar  about  an  inch  high  across  the  end  to  serve 
as  a  lifSe,  and  on  the  higher  end  of  this  box  is  a  sta- 
tionary box  14  inches  square,  with  sides  4  inches  high 
and  having  a  sheet  iron  bottom  perforated  with  halt 
inch  holes.  On  the  bottom  of  the  box  are  fastened 
two  rockers  like  those  on  the  baby  cradle,  and  the 
whole  had  a  piece  of  board  or  other  solid  foundation 
to  stand  on,  the  v*^hole  being  set  at  an  angle  to  allow 
the  gravel  to  work  off  at  the  lower  end  with  the  water. 
A  cleat  was    fastened  across  the  bottom  to  catch  the 


DEATH  VALLEY.  483 

gold,  and  this  was  frequently  examined  to  see  how  the 
work  was  paj-ing,  and  taking  out  such  coarse  pieces 
cs  could  be  readily  seen.  To  work  the  rocker  a  pan 
of  dirt  would  be  placed  in  the  square  screen  box,  and 
then  with  one  hand  the  miner  would  rock  the  cradle 
while  he  poured  water  with  the  other  from  a  dipper  to 
wash  the  earth.  After  he  had  poured  on  enough  water 
and  shaken  the  box  sufficiently  to  pass  all  the  small 
stuff  through  he  would  stir  over  what  remained  in  the 
screen  box,  examining  carefully  for  a  nugget  too  large 
to  pass  through  the  half  inch  holes.  If  the  miner  found 
that  the  dirt  did  not  pay  he  took  his  rocker  on  his  back 
and  went  on  in  search  of  a  better  claim. 

Another  way  to  work  the  dirt  was  to  get  a  small 
head  of  water  running  in  a  ditch,  and  then  run  the 
water  and  gravel  through  a  series  of  boxes  a  fooc 
square  and  twelve  feet  long,  using  from  one  to  ten 
boxes  as  circumstances  seemed  to  indicate.  At  the 
lower  end  of  these  boxes  was  placed  the  "Long  Tom" 
which  was  about  two  feet  wide  at  the  lower  end,  and 
having  sides  six  inches  high  at  the  same  point.  The 
side  pieces  extend  out  about  3  feet  longer  than  the 
wooden  bottom,  and  aie  turned  up  to  a  point,  some 
like  a  sled  runner,  and  this  turned  up  part  has  a  bot- 
tom of  sheet  iron  punched  full  of  holes,  the  size  of  the 
sheet  iron  being  about  3  feet  by  16  inches. 

The  miners  shovel  dirt  into  the  upper  end  of  the 
boxes  slowly,  and  regulate  the  water  so  that  it  dissol- 
ves the  lumps  and  chunks  very  thoroughly  before  it 
reaches  the  long  tom  where  a  man  stands  and  stirs  the 
gravel  over,  and  if  nothing  yellow  is  seen  throws  the 
washed  gravel  away,  and  lets  the  rest  go  through  the 
screen.  Immediately  below  this  screen  was  placed 
what  was  called  a  "riffle  box, "  2  by  4  feet  in  size  with 
bars  4  inches  high  across  the  bottom  and  sides,  and 
this  box  is  set  at   the  proper  angle.     Now    when  the 


484  DEATH  VALLEY. 

water  comes,  through  the  screen  it  falls  perpendicularly 
in  this  box  with  force  enough  to  keep  the  contents 
continually  in  motion,  a,id  as  the  gold  is  much  heavier 
than  any  other  mineral  likely  to  be  found  in  the  dirt,  . 
it  settles  to  the  bottom,  and  all  the  lighter  stuff  is  car- 
ried awa}-  by  the  water.  The  gold  would  be  found 
behind  the  bars  in  the  riflQe  box. 

These  methods  of  working  were  very  crude,  and  we 
gradually  became  aware  that  the  finest  dust  was  not 
saved,  and  many  improvements  were  brought  into  use. 
In  my  own  mine  the  tailings  that  we  let  go  down  the 
mountain  side  would  lodge  in  large  piles  in  different 
places,  and  after  lying  a  j'ear,  more  gold  could  be 
washed  out  of  it  than  was  first  obtained,  and  some  of 
it  coarser,  so  that  it  was  plainly  seen  that  a  better  way 
of  working  would  be  more  profitable.  There  was 
plenty  of  ground  called  poor  ground  that  had  much 
gold  in  it  but  could  not  be  profitably  worked  with  the 
rocker  and  long  tom.  The  bed  rock  was  nearly  level 
and  as  the  land  had  a  gradual  rise,  the  banks  kept 
getting  higher  and  higher  as  they  dug  farther  in. 
Now  it  was  reallj"  good  ground  only  down  close  to  the 
bed  rock,  but  all  the  dirt  had  some  gold  in  it,  and  if  a 
way  could  be  invented  to  work  it  fast  enough,  such 
ground  would  pay.  So  the  plan  of  hydraulic  mining 
was  experimented  upon. 

The  water  was  brought  in  a  ditch  or  flume  to  the  top 
of  a  high  bank,  and  then  terminated  in  a  tight  box. 
To  this  box  was  attached  a  large  hose  made  by  hand 
out  of  canva,s,  and  a  -pipe  and  nozzle  attached  to  the 
lower  end  of  the  hose.  Now  as  the  bank  was  often 
ICO  feet  or  more  high  the  water  at  this  head,  when 
directed  through  the  nozzle  against  the  bank,  fairly 
melted  it  away  into  liquid  mud.  Imagine  us  located 
a  mile  above  the  river  on  the  side  of  a  mountain.  We 
dug  at  first  sluices  in    the  rock    to  carry    off"  the  mud 


DEATH  VALLEY.  485 

and  water,  and  after  it  had  flowed  in  these  a  little  way 
a  sluice  box  was  put  in  to  pass  it  through.  These 
were  made  on  a  slope  of  one  in  twelve,  and  the  bot- 
tom paved  with  blocks,  3  inches  thick,  so  laid  as  to 
make  a  cavitj'  or  pocket  at  the  corner  of  the  blocks. 
After  passing  the  first  sluice  box  the  water  and  gravel 
would  be  run  in  a  bed  rock  sluice  again,  and  then  into 
another  sluice  box  and  so  on  for  a  mile,  passing 
through  several  sluice  boxes  on  the  way.  Quicksilver 
was  placed  in  the  upper  sluice  boxes,  and  when  the 
particles  of  gold  were  polished  up  by  tumbling  about 
in  the  gravel,  they  combined  with  the  quicksilver 
making  an  amalgam. 

The  most  gold  would  be  left  in  the  first  sluice  boxes 
but  some  would  go  on  down  to  the  very  last,  where 
the  water  and  dirt  was  run  off  into  the  river.  They 
cleaned  up  the  first  sluices  every  week,  a  little  farther 
down  every  month,  while  the  lower  ones  would  only 
be  cleaned  up  at  the  end  of  the  season. 

In  cleaning  up,  the  blocks  would  be  taken  out  of 
the  boxes,  and  every  little  crevice  or  pocket  in  the 
whole  length  of  the  sluice  cleaned  out.  from  the  bol- 
tom  to  the  top,  using  little  hooks  and  iron  spocns 
made  for  the  purpose. 

The  amalgam  thus  collected  was  heated  in  a  retort 
which  expelled  the  quicksilver  in  vapor,  which  was 
condensed  and  used  again. 

When  thev  first  tried  hydraulic  work  a  tinsmith 
made  a  nozzle  out  of  she-;t  iron,  but  when  put  in  prac- 
tice, instead  of  throwing  a  solid  stream,  it  scattered 
like  an  shotgun,  and  up  at  Moore's  Flat  they  called 
the  claims  where  they  used  it  the  "shotgun"  claims. 
From  that  tiue  great  improvements  were  made  in 
hydraulic  apparatus  until  the  work  done  by  them  was 
really  wonderful. 

In  1850    there  lived    at  Orleans    Flat  and    Moore's 


486  DEATH  VALLEY. 

Flat,  in  Nevada  County  a  few  young,  energetic  and 
very  stirring  pioneers  in  the  persons  of  lads  from  lo  to 
15  years  of  age,  always  on  the  search  for  a  few  dimes 
to  spend,  or  add  to  an  already  hoarded  store,  and  the 
mountain  air,  with  the  wild  surroundings,  seemed  to 
inspire  them  always  with  lively  vigor,  and  especially 
when  there  was  a  prospect  of  a  two-bit  piece  not  far 
ahead. 

In  winter  when  the  deep  snow  cut  off  all  communi- 
cation with  the  valley,  our  busy  tinner  ran  short  of 
solder,  and  seeing  a  limited  supply  in  the  tin  cans 
that  lay  thick  about,  he  engaged  the  boys  to  gather  in 
a  supply  and  showed  them  how  they  could  be  melted 
down  to  secure  the  solder  with  which  they  had  been 
fastened,  and  thus  provide  for  his  immediate  wants. 
So  the  boys  ransacked  every  spot  where  they  had  been 
thrown,  under  the  saloon  and  houses,  and  in  old  dump 
holes  everj-where,  till  thej'  had  gathered  a  pretty  large 
pile  which  they  fired  as  he  had  told  them,  and  then 
panned  out  the  ashes  to  secure  the  drops  of  metal 
which  had  melted  down  and  cooled  in  small  drops  and 
bits  below.  This  was  re-melted  and  cast  into  a  mould 
made  in  a  pine  block,  and  the  solder  made  into  regular 
form.  About  one-third  was  made  up  thus  in  good  and 
honest  shape. 

But  the  boys  soon  developed  a  shrewdness  that  if 
more  fully  expanded  might  make  them  millionaires, 
but  in  the  present  small  way  they  hoped  to  put  to  ac- 
count in  getting  a  few  extra  dimes.  They  put  a  big 
chunk  of  iron  in  the  mould  and  poured  in  the  melted 
solder  which  enclosed  it  completely,  so  that  when  they 
presented  the  bright  silvery  bar  to  the  old  tinker  he 
paid  the  price  agreed  upon  and  the}"  divided  the  money 
between  them,  and  then,  in  a  secure  place,  they  laugh- 
ed till  their  sides  ached  at  the  good  joke  on  the  tinman. 

In  due  time  the  man  found  out  the  iron  core  in  his 


DEATH  VALLEY.  487 

bar  of  solder,  and  thought  the  joke  such  a  good  one 
that  he  told  of  it  in  the  saloon,  and  had  to  spend  at 
least  $5  in  drinks  to  ease  oflf  the  laugh  they  had  on 
him  as  the  victim  of  the  young  California  pioneers. 
And  these  young  fellows — some  have  paddled  their 
own  canoe  successfully  into  quiet  waters  and  are  now 
in  the  fullness  of  life,  happy  in  their  possessions,  while 
somt  have  been  swamped  on  the  great  rushing  stream 
of  business,  and  dwell  in  memory  on  the  happy  times 
gone  by. 

The  older  pioneers  in  these  mining  towns  were,  in 
many  respects  a  peculiar  class  of  men.  Most  of  them 
were  sober  and  industrious,  fearless  and  venturesome, 
jolly  and  happy  when  good  luck  came  to  them,  and  in 
misfortune  stood  up  with  brave,  strong,  manly  hearts, 
without  a  tear  or  murmur.  They  let  the  world  roll 
merrily  by,  were  ever  ready  with  joke,  mirth  and  fun 
to  make  their  surroundings  cheerful. 

Fortunes  came  and  went;  they  made  money  easily, 
and  spent  it  just  as  freely,  and  in  their  generosity  and 
kindly  charity  the  old  expression — "He  has  a  heart 
like  an  ox"  fitted  well  the  character  of  most  of  them. 

When  luck  turned  against  them  they  worked  the 
harder,  for  the  next  ^urn  might  fill  their  big  pockets 
with  a  fortune,  and  then  the  dream  of  capturing  a  wife 
and  building  up  a  home  could  be  realized,  and  they 
would  move  out  into  the  world  on  a  wave  ot  happiness 
and  plenty.  This  kind  of  talk  was  freely  carried  on 
around  the  camp  fire  in  the  long  evenings,  and  who 
knows  how  many  of  these  royal  good  fellows  realized 
those  bright  hopes  and  glorious  anticipations?  Who 
knows? 

The  names  come  back  in  memory  of  some  of  them, 
and  others  have  been  forgotten.  I  recall  Washington 
Work,  H.  J.  Kingman,  A.  J.  Henderson,  L.  J.  Han- 
chett,  Jack  Hays,   Seth  Bishop,   Burr  Blakeslee,  Jim 


488  DEATH  VALLEY. 

-Tyler,  who  was  the  loudest  .laugher  in  the  town,  and 
as  he  lived  at  the  Clifton  House  he  was  called  "The 
Clifton  House  Calf. ' '     These  and  many  others  might 

.be  mentioned  as  typical  good  fellows  of  the  mining 
days.  The  biggest  kind  of  practical  joke  would  be 
settled  amicably  at  the  saloon  after  the  usual  stjde. 

One  day  Jack  Ha3^s  bought  a  pair  of  new  boots,  set 
them  down  in  the.  store  and  went  to  turn  off  the  miners 
supply  of  water.  When  he  returned  he  found  his 
boots  well  filled  wdth  refuse  crackers  and  water.  This 
he  discovered  when  he  tooR  them  up  to  go  to  dinner, 
and  as  he  poured  out  the  contents  at  the  door,  a  half 
dozen  boys  across  the  street  raised  a  big  laugh  at  him, 
and  hooted  at  his  discomfiture.  ,  Jack  scowled  an  aw- 
ful scowl,  and  if  he  called  them  "pukes"  with  a  few 

-  swear  words  added,  it  was  a  mild  wa}'  of  pouring  out 

■  his  anger.  But  after  dinner  the  boys  surrounded  him 
and  fairly  laughed  him  into  a  good  .humor,  so  that  he 
set  up  drinks  for  the  crowd. 

Foot  races  were  a  great  Sunday  sport,  and  dog  fights 
w-ere  not  uncommon.  One  dog  in  our  camp  was  cham- 
pion of  the  ridge,  and  though  other  camps  brought  in 
their  pet  canines  to  eat  him  up,  he  was  always  the  top 
dog  at  the  end  of  the  scrimmage,  and  he  had  a  win- 
ning grip  on  the  fore  foot  of  his  antagonist. 

A  big  "husky"  w^ho  answered  to  the  name  of  Cher- 
okee Bob  came  our  way  and  stopped  awhile.  He  an- 
nounced himself  a  foot  racer,  and  a  contest  was  soon 
arranged  with  Soda  Bill  of  Nevada  City,  and  each 
went  into  a  course  of  training  at  his  own  camp.  Bob 
found  some  way  to  get  the  best  time  that  Bill  could 
make,  and  comparing  it  wnthhis  own,  said  he  could 
beat  in  that  race.  So  when  it  came  off  our  boys  gath- 
ered up  their  money,  and  loaded  down  the  stage,  in- 
side and  out,  departing  with  swinging  hats  and  flying 
colors,  and  screaming  in  wdld  delight  at  the  sure  pros- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  489 

pect  of  doubling-  their  dust.      In  a  few  days  they  all 
came  back  after  the  style  of  half  drowned  roosters. 

Dob  had  'thrown'  the  race  and  skipped  with  his 
money  before  they  could  catch  him.  Had  he  been 
■  found  he  would  have  been  ungentiy  hoisted  to  the 
first  projecting  limb,  .but  he  was  never  seen  again. 
The  boys  were  sad  and  silent  for  a  day  or  two,  but  a 
look  of  cheerful  resignation  soon  came  upon  their 
iaces  as  they  handled  pick  and  shovel,  and  the  world 
rolled  on  as  before. 

One  fall  we  had  a  county  election,  and  among  the 
candidates  for  office  was  our  townsman,  H.  M.  Moore, 
from  whom  Moore's  Flat  secured  its  name.  He  was 
the  Democratic  nominee  for  County  Judge,  and  on  the 
other  side  was  David  Belden,  he  whom  Santa  Clara 
County  felt  proud  to  honor  as  its  Superior  Judge,  and 
when  death  claimed  him,  never  was  man  more  sin- 
cerely mourned  by  every  citizen. 

The  votes  were  counted,  and  Belden  was  one  ahead. 
Moore  claimed  another  count,  and  this  time  a  mistake 
was  discovered  in  the  former  count,  but  unfortunately 
it  gave  Belden  a  larger  majority  than  before,  and  his 
adversary  was  forced  to  abandon  the  political  fight. 

In  the  fifties  I  traveled  from  the  North  Yuba  River 
to  San  Bernardino  on  different  roads,  and  made  many 
acquaintances  and  friends.  I  can  truly  say  that  I 
found  many  of  these  early  comers  who  were  the  most 
noble  men  and  women  of  the  earth.  They  were  brave 
else  they  had  never  taken  the  journey  through  un- 
known deserts,  and  through  lands  where  wild  Indians 
had  their  homes.  They  were  just  and  true  to  friends, 
and  to  real  enemies,  terribly  bitter  and  uticoin promis- 
ing. Money  \.'as  borrowed  and  loaned  without  a  note 
or  written  obl'gation,  and  there  was  no  mention  made 
of  statute  laws  as  a  rule  of  action.  When  a  real  mur- 
derer or  horsethief  was  caught  no  lawvers  were  needed 


490  DEATH  VAIvLEY. 

nor  employed,  but  if  the  commimity  was  satisfied  as 
to  the  guilt  and  identity  of  the  prisoner,  the  punish- 
ment was  speedily  meted  out,  and  the  nearest  tree  was 
soon  ornamented  (?)  with  his  swinging  carcass. 

Many  of  these  worthy  men  broke  the  trail  on  the 
rough  way  that  led  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  drove  away 
all  dangers,  and  made  it  safer  for  those  who  dared  not 
at  first  risk  life  and  fortune  in  the  journey,  but,  en- 
couraged by  the  success  of  the  earliest  pioneers,  ven- 
tured later  on  the  eventful  trip  to  the  new  gold  fields. 
I  cannot  praise  these  noble  men  too  much;  they  deserve 
all  I  can  say,  and  much  more,  too;  and  if  a  word  I  can 
say  shall  teach  our  new  citizens  to  regard  with  rever- 
ent respect  the  early  pioneers  who  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  glory,  piosperity  and  beauty  of  the  California 
of  to-da5',  I  shall  have  done  all  I  hope  to,  and  the  his- 
torian of  another  half  century  may  do  them  justice, 
and  give  to  them  their  full  meed  of  praise. 

As  long  as  I  have  lived  in  California  I  have  never 
carried  a  weapon  of  defense,  and  never  could  see  much 
danger.  I  tried  to  follow  the  right  trail  so  as  to  shun 
bad  men,  and  never  found  much  difficulty  in  doing  so. 
We  hear  much  of  the  Vigilance  Committee  of  early 
days.  It  was  an  actual  necessity  of  former  times. 
The  gold  fields  not  only  attracted  the  good  and  brave, 
but  also  the  worst  and  most  lawless  desperadoes  of  the 
world  at  large.  England's  banished  convicts  came 
here  from  the  penal  colonies  of  Australia  and  Van 
Uiemen's  Land.  They  had  wonderful  ideas  of  free- 
dom. In  their  own  land  the  stern  laws  and  numerous 
constabulary  had  not  been  able  to  keep  them  from 
crime.  A  colony  of  criminals  did  not  improve  in  moral 
tone,  and  when  the  most  reckless  and  daring  of  all 
these  were  turned  loose  in  a  country  like  California, 
where  the  machinery  of  laws  and  officers  to  execute 
them    was    not   yet    in    order,  these    lawless   "Sidney 


DEATH  VALLEY.  491 

Ducks,"  as  they  were  called,  felt  free  to  rob  and  mur- 
der, and  human  life  or  blood  was  not  allowed  to  stand 
between  them  and  their  desires.  Others  of  the  same 
general  stripe  came  from  Mexico  and  Chili,  and  Texas 
and  Western  Missouri  furnished  another  class  almost 
as  bad. 

The  Vigilance  Committee  of  vSau  Francisco  was  com- 
posed of  the  best  men  in  the  world.  They  endured 
all  that  was  heaped  upon  them  by  these  lawless  men, 
and  the  law  of  self  protection  forced  them  to  organize 
for  the  swift  apprehension  and  piuiishment  of  crime, 
and  the  preservation  of  their  property  and  lives.  No 
one  was  punished  unjustly,  but  there  was  no  delay, 
and  the  evil-doer  met  his  fate  swiftly  and  surely. 
Justice  was  strict,  and  the  circumstances  were  gener- 
ally unfavorable  to  thoughts  of  mercy.  I  was  in  San 
Francisco  the  day  after  Casey  and  Cory  were  hung 
by  the  Vigilance  Committee.  Things  looked  quite 
military.  Fort  Gunny-bags  seemed  well  piotected, 
and  no  innocent  man  in  any  danger.  I  was  then  a 
customer  of  G.  W.  Badger  and  Lindenberger,  clothiers, 
and  was  present  one  day  in  their  store  when  some  of 
the  clerks  came  in  from  general  duty,  and  their  com- 
rades shouldered  the  same  gu!is  and  took  their  places 
on  guard.  The  Committee  was  so  truly  vigilant  that 
these  fire-bugs,  robbers  and  cut-throats  had  to  hide 
for  safety. 

Those  who  came  early  to  this  coast  were,  mostly, 
brave,  venturesome,  enduring  fellows,  who  felt  they 
could  outlive  any  hardship  and  overcome  all  difficult- 
ies; they  were  of  no  ordinary  type  of  character  or  hab- 
its. They  thought  they  saw  success  before  them,  and 
were  determineu  to  win  it  at  almost  any  cost.  They 
had  pictured  in  their  mnids  the  size  of  the  "pile"  that 
would  satisfy  them,  and  brought  their  buckskin  bags 
with  them,  in  various  sizes,  to  hold  the  snug  sum  they 


492  DEATH  VALLEY 

hoped  to  win  in  the  wonderful  gold  fields  of  the  then 
unknown  California. 

These  California  pioneers  were  restless  fellows,  but 
those  who  came  by  the  overland  tr^il  were  not  with- 
out education  and  refinement;  they  were,  indeed, 
many  of  them,  the  very  cream  of  Americans.  The 
new  scenes  and  associations,  the  escape  from  the  influ- 
ence of  home  and  friends,  of  wife  and  children,  led 
some  off  the  dim  track,  and  their  restlessness  could 
not  well  be  put  down.  Reasonable  men  could  not  ex- 
pect all  persons  under  these  circumstances  to  be  mod- 
els of  virtue.  Then  the  Missouri  River  seemed  to  be 
the  western  boundary  of  all  civilization,  and  as  these 
gold  hunters  launched  out  on  the  almost  trackless 
prairies  that  lay  westward  of  that  mighty  stream, 
many  considered  themselves  as  entering  a  country  of 
peculiar  freedom,  and  it  was  often  said  that  "Law  and 
morality  never  crossed  the  Missouri  River. ' '  Pass- 
ing this  great  stream  was  like  the  crossing  of  the  Rub- 
icon in  earlier  history,  a  step  that  could  not  be  retraced, 
a  launching  to  victory  or  death.  Under  this  state  of 
feeling  many  showed  the  cloven  foot,  and  tried  to 
make  trouble,  Imt  in  any  emergency  good  and  honest 
men  seemed  always  in  the  majority,  and  those  who 
had  thoughts  or  desires  of  evil  were  compelled  to  sub- 
mit to  honorable  and  just  conclusions. 

There  were  some  strange  developments  of  character 
among  these  travelers.  Some  who  had  in  long  attend- 
ance at  school  and  church,  listened  all  their  lives  to 
trachings  of  morality  and  justice,  and  at  home  seemed 
to  be  fairly  wedded  to  ideas  of  even  rights  between 
man  and  man,  seemed  to  experience  a  change  of  char- 
acter as  they  neared  the  Pacific  Coast.  Amiable  dis- 
positions became  soured,  moral  ideas  sadly  blunted, 
and  their  whole  make-up  seemed  changed,  while  others 
who  at  home  seemed  to  be  of  rougher  mould,  devel- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  493 

oped  principles  of  justice  and  humanitj',  affection  al- 
most unbounded,  and  were  true  men  in  every  trial 
and  in  all  places.  A  majority  of  all  were  thus  fair- 
minded  and  true. 

Men  from  every  state  from  New  Hampshire  to  Texas 
gathered  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  to  set  out  to- 
gether across  the  plains.  These  men  reared  in  differ- 
ent climates,  amid  different  ways  and  customs,  taught 
by  different  teachers  in  schools  of  religion  and  politics, 
made  up  a  strange  mass  when  thus  thrown  together; 
but  the  good  and  true  came  to  the  surface,  and  the 
turbulent  and  bad  were  always  in  a  hopeless  minority. 
Laws  seemed  to  grow  out  of  the  very  circumstances, 
and  though  not  in  print,  flagrant  violations  would  be 
surely  punished. 

Some  left  civilization  with  all  the  luxuries  money 
could  buy— fine,  well-equipped  trains  of  their  own, 
and  riding  a  fat  and  prancing  steed,  which  they  guided 
with  gloved  hands,  and  seemed  to  think  that  water 
and  grass  and  pleasant  camping  places  would  always 
be  found  wherever  they  wished  to  stop  for  rest,  and 
that  the  great  El  Dorado  would  be  a  grand  pleasure 
excursion,  ending  in  a  pile  of  gold  large  enough  to  fill 
their  big  leather  purse.  But  the  sleek,  fat  horse  grew 
poor;  the  gloves  with  embroidered  gauntlet  wrists 
were  cast  aside;  the  trains  grew  small,  and  the  luxur- 
ies vanished,  and  perhaps  the  plucky  owner  made  the 
last  few  hundred  miles  on  foot,  with  blistered  soles 
and  scanty  pack,  almost  alone.  Many  of  these  gay 
trains  never  reached  California,  and  many  a  pioneer 
who  started  with  high  hopes  died  upon  the  way,  some 
rudely  buried,  some  left  where  they  fell  upon  the 
sands  or  rocks. 

Those  who  got  through  found  a  splendid  climate 
and  promising  prospects  before  them  of  filling  empty 
stomachs  and  empty  pockets,  and  were  soon  searching 


494  DEATH  VALLEY. 

eagerl}"  for  ^-ellow  treasure.  When  fortunate  they 
recovered  rapidly  their  exhausted  bodies  to  health 
and  strength,  and  gained  new  energy  as  they  saw 
prosperity. 

Prospectors  wandered  through  the  mountains  in 
search  of  new  and  suitable  gold  diggings,  and  when 
they  came  to  a  miner's  cabin  the  door  was  alwa^'S 
ppen,  and  whether  the  owner  was  present  or  absent 
they  could  go  in,  and  if  hungry,  heip  themselves  to 
anything  they  found  in  shape  of  food,  and  go  away 
again  without  fear  of  offense,  for  under  such  circum- 
stances the  unwritten  law  said   that  grub    was    free. 

By  the  same  unwritten  law,  stealing  and  robbery,  as 
well  as  murder,  were  capital  offences,  and  lawless 
characters  were  put  down.  Favors  were  freely 
granted,  and  written  obligations  were  never  asked  or 
given,  and  business  was  governed  by  the  rules  of 
strictest  honor.  The  great  majority  of  these  pioneers 
w^ere  tne  bone  and  sinew  of  the  nation,  and  possessed 
a  fair  share  of  the  brains.  In  a  personal  experience 
wnth  them  extending  from  early  days  to  the  present 
time  I  have  found  them  always  just  and  honorable, 
and  I  regret  that  it  is  not  within  my  ability  to  give 
the  praise  they  deserve.  When  a  stranger  and  hun- 
gry I  was  never  turned  away  without  food,  and  my 
entertainment  was  free,  and  given  without  thought  of 
compensation  or  reward. 

In  the  chambers  of  my  mind  are  stored  up  the  most 
pleasant  recollections  of  these  noble  men  w^hose  good 
deeds  in  days  gone  by  have  earned  for  them  the  right 
to  a  crown  of  glory  of  greatest  splendor. 

These  noble  souls  who  came  here  40  years  ago  are 
fast  passing  away  across  the  Mystic  River,  and  those 
who  trod  on  foot  the  hot  and  dusty  trail  are  giving 
way  to  those  who  come  in  swiftly  rolling  palace  cars, 
and  who  hardly  seem  to  give  a  thought  to  the  differ- 


DEATH  VALLEY.  495 

ence  between  then  and  now.  Those  who  came  earl}- 
cleared  the  way  and  started  the  great  stream  of  gold 
that  has  made  America  one  of  the  richest  nations  of 
the  world. 

I  have  a  suggestion  to  make  to  the  descendants  of 
these  noble  pioneers,  that  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  their  fathers,  and  do  reverence  to  their  good 
and  noble  deeds  in  the  early  history  of  this  grand 
State,  there  should  be  erected  upon  the  highest 
mountain  top  a  memorial  building  wherein  may  be 
inscribed  the  names  and  histories  of  the  brave  pion- 
eers, so  they  may  never  be  blotted  out. 

THE  JAYHAWKERS. 

The  most  perfect  organization  of  the  pioneers  who 
participated  more  or  less  in  the  scenes  depicted  in  this 
volume,  is  that  of  the  Jayhawkers,  ard,  strange  to 
say,  this  organization  is  in  the  East,  and  has  its  an- 
nual meetings  there,  although  the  living  members  are 
about  equally  divided  betw^een  the  East  and  the 
Pacific  Coast.  As  related  elsewhere,  February  4th  is 
the  day  of  the  annual  meeting,  for  on  that  day  they 
reached  the  Santa  Clara  Valley. 

It  is  greatly  regretted  that  a  more  direct  and  com- 
plete account  of  the  Death  Valley  experience  of  the 
Jayhawkers  could  not  have  been  obtained  for  this 
work.  To  be  sure  it  was  from  the  lips  of  a  living 
witness  told  in  many  conversations,  but  no  doubt 
many  striking  incidents  were  left  out.  It  is,  however, 
a  settled  thing  that  these,  and  other  individuals  with 
whom  he  was  immediately  connected,  were  more  in- 
timately connected  with  the  horrors  of  the  sunken 
valley  which  was  given  its  name  by  them,  than  were 
any  other  persons  who  ever  crossed  that  desert  region. 

It  will  be  considered  that  this  was  the  most  favor- 
able time  of  year  possible,  and  that  during  the  spring  or 
summer  not   one  would   have  lived   to  tell  the  tale. 


496  DEATH  VALLEY. 

The  Author,  to  his  best,  has  done  his  duty  to  all, 
and  concludes  with  the  hope  that  this  mite  may  au- 
thenticate one  of  the  saddest  chapters  iu  the  history 
of  the  Golden  State. 

CONCLUSION. 

This  stor)'  is  not  meant  to  be  sensational,  but  a 
plain,  unvarnished  tale  of  truth — some  parts  hard  and 
very  sad.  It  is  a  narrative  of  my  personal  experience, 
and  being  in  no  sense  a  literary  man  or  making  any 
pretense  as  a  writer,  I  hope  the  errors  may  be  over- 
looked, for  it  has  been  to  me  a  difficult  story  to  tell, 
arousing  as  it  did  sad  recollections  of  the  past.  I 
have  told  it  in  the  plainest,  briefest  way,  with  nothing 
exaggerated  or  overdone.  Those  who  traveled  over 
the  same  or  similar  routes  are  capable  of  passing  a 
just  opinion  of  the  stor\\ 

Looking  back  over  more  than  40  years,  I  was  then 
a  great  lover  of  liberty,  as  well  as  health  and  happi- 
ness, and  I  possessed  a  great  desire  to  see  a  new  coun- 
try never  yet  trod  by  civilized  man,  so  that  I  easily 
caught  the  gold  fever  of  1849,  and  naught  but  a  trip 
to  that  land  of  fabled  wealth  could  cure  me. 

Geography  has  wonderfully  changed  since  then. 
Where  Omaha  now  stands  there  was  not  a  house  in 
1849.  Six  hundred  miles  of  treeless  prairie  without  a 
house  brought  us  to  the  adobe  dwellings  at  Fort  Lar- 
amie, and  400,  more  or  less,  were  the  long  miles  to 
Mormondom,  still  more  than  700  miles  from  the  Pa- 
cific Coast.  Passing  over  this  wilderness  was  like 
going  to  sea  without  a  compass. 

Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  when  we  crossed  a  stream 
that  was  said  to  flow  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  myself  and 
comrades  were  ready  to  adopt  floating  down  its  cur- 
rent as  an  easier  road  than  the  heated  trail,  and  for 
three  weeks,  over  rocks  and  rapids,  we  floated  and 
tumbled  down  the  deep  canon  of  Green  River  till  we 


DEATH  VALLEY.  497 

emerged  iuto  an  open  plain  and  were  compelled  to 
come  on  shore  by  the  Indians  there  encamped.  We 
had  believed  the  Indians  to  be  a  war-like  and  cruel 
people,  but  when  we  made  them  understand  where 
we  wanted  to  go,  they  warned  us  of  the  great  impass- 
able Colorado  Canon  only  two  days  ahead  of  us,  and 
pointed  out  the  road  to  "Mormonie"  with  their  advice 
to  take  it.  This  was  Chief  Walker,  a  good,  well 
meaning  red  man,  and  to  him  we  owed  our  lives. 

Out  of  this  trouble  we  were  once  again  on  the  safe 
road  from  Salt  Lake  to  Los  Angeles,  and  again  made 
error  in  taking  a  cut  off  route,  and  striking  across  a 
trackless  country  because  it  seemed  to  promise  a 
shorter  distance,  and  where  thirteen  of  our  party  lie 
unburied  on  the  sands  of  the  terribly  dry  valley. 
Those  who  lived  were  saved  by  the  little  puddles  of 
rain  water  that  had  fallen  from  the  small  rain  clouds 
that  had  been  forced  over  the  great  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains  in  one  of  the  wettest  winters  ever  known. 
In  an  ordinary  year  we  should  have  all  died  of 
thirst,  so  that  we  were  lucky  in  our  misfortune. 

When  we  came  out  to  the  fertile  coast  near  Los 
Angeles,  we  found  good  friends  in  the  native  Califor- 
nians  who,  like  good  Samaritans,  gave  us  food  and 
took  us  in,  poor,  nearly  starved  creatures  that  we 
were,  without  money  or  property  from  which  they 
could  expect  to  be  rewarded.  Their  deeds  stand  out 
whiter  in  our  memories  than  all  the  rest,  notwith- 
standing their  skins  were  dark.  It  seems  to  me  such 
people  do  not  live  in  this  age  of  the  world  which  we 
are  pleased  to  call  advanced.  I  was  much  with  these 
old  Californians,  and  found  them  honest  and  truthful, 
willing  to  divide  the  last  bit  of  food  with  a  needy 
stranger  or  a  friend.  Their  good  deeds  have  never 
been  praised  enough,  and  I  feel  it  in  my  heart  to  do 
them  ample  justice  while  I  live. 


498 


DEATH  VAIvIvEY. 


The  work  that  was  laid  out  for  me  to  do,  to  tell 
when  and  where  I  went,  is  done.  Perhaps  in  days  to 
come  it  may  be  of  even  more  interest  than  now,  and  I 
shall  be  glad  I  have  turned  over  the  scenes  in  my 
memory  and  recorded  them,  and  on  some  rolling  stone 
you  may  inscribe  the  name  of  WiIvLIAM  Lkwis  Man- 
LEY,  born  near  St,  Albans,  Vermont,  April  20th, 
1820,  who  went  to  Michigan  while  yet  it  was  a  •''i- 
tory,  as  an  early  pioneer;  then  onward  to  Wisconsin 
before  it  became  a  state,  and  for  twelve  long,  weary 
months  traveled  across  the  wild  western  prairies,  the 
lofty  mountains  and  sunken  deserts  of  Death  Valley, 
to  this  land  which  is  now  so  pleasant  and  so  fair, 
wherein,  after  over  40  years  of  earnest  toil,  I  rest  in 
the  midst  of  family  and  friends,  and  can  truly  say  1 
am  content. 

THE  END. 


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